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Online Programs from the SLC
| Quick Links » | Transportation Funding | Aging Inmates | Medicaid Program Integrity | Regulation of Compounding Companies | Pensions Reform | Higher Education Finance Reform |
States Act to Bolster Transportation FundingFriday, June 142:00 pm EDT
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While the federal government was unquestionably the dominant player in building the nation’s transportation infrastructure network for most of the last century, states now have taken a lead role in infrastructure projects. The federal fuel tax was last increased in 1993 and the Congressional Budget Office forecasts the Highway Trust Fund will be depleted sometime in 2015. Federal policymakers will have to either bail out the trust fund again or raise revenue by hiking taxes. As the federal role in transportation infrastructure wanes, state policymakers have devised and pursued a range of options to restore and rebuild the nation’s infrastructure. 2013 was a particularly productive year for these state transportation funding initiatives as dozens of states introduced, and sometimes enacted, a plethora of proposals. This complimentary SLC webinar will feature the latest developments from several Southern states and provide an opportunity for webinar participants to learn more about some of these strategies. Participants will be able to direct questions to the legislators that spearheaded these vital transportation reforms in their states. ModeratorSenator Bill Sample, Chair, Arkansas Senate Transportation, Technology and Legislative Affairs and Chair, SLC’s Economic Development, Transportation and Cultural Affairs Committee SpeakersSenator Frank W. Wagner, Virginia Register Now |
Aging Inmates: The Continual 'Graying' of America's PrisonsThursday, May 30
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Each year, around 675,000 elderly people are arrested, the U.S. Department of Justice says. Because these inmates likely will require regular medical attention, special facilities such as wheelchair ramps, and are generally in poorer health than their younger counterparts, they can cost as much as four times as much as other inmates to incarcerate. In fact, some statistics note that the cost of housing an elderly inmate is comparable to incarcerating prisoners in maximum-security prisons. Experts say the explosion of elderly inmates in the American penal system is not attributed to an elderly crime wave, but rather several factors that will continue to put more elderly people behind bars and continue to keep them behind bars longer. The Council of State Governments’ Southern Legislative Conference issued reports on this topic in 1998 and 2006. This webinar will explore the graying of America’s prisons, with a look at how states can save money by consolidating elderly inmate populations, implementing early release for terminally ill or otherwise innocuous elderly prisoners, and implementing general policies that can limit victimization inside prison and address recidivism of elderly offenders upon release. Speakers:
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Food Safety Modernization Act: Impacts for Farmers, Producers and StatesThursday, May 2 | 2-3 pm ET
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The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), signed into law on January 4, 2011, represents the most significant revision of food safety laws in the United States in more than 70 years. The legislation carried with it new mandates for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, including comprehensive, prevention-based approaches across all aspects of the food supply system. Such a prevention-based approach will require food facilities to evaluate hazards in their operations and establish procedures to prevent contamination. The law also requires the FDA to establish safety standards for production and harvesting of fruits and vegetables based on science. In addition to enhanced prevention and surveillance tools, the FDA will also have mandatory recall authority for all food products. The law recognizes that food safety is at its heart a partnership among federal, state and local (as well as foreign) governments whose success is dependent on the capacity of these partners to fulfill their roles. Because of this, the FSMA calls upon the FDA to support, expand and strengthen the ability of all partners to conduct their responsibilities at the highest level possible. This free webinar from the Council of State Governments Regional Offices and the State Ag and Rural Leaders, investigated recent developments as the FDA moves to implement the FSMA, including recently released regulations on produce and manufactured food, the implications this new food safety regimen has for farmers, ranchers and food producers, and how the changing food safety landscape will affect the states. Presenters
PresentationsArchived WebinarThe comments period for the “Produce Safety” Rule, the“Preventive Control” Rule and a Qualitative Risk Assessment document regarding facilities co-located on a farm has been extended until September 16, 2013. You can view information on the proposed rules here. To Comment go to www.regulations.gov Document FDA-2011-N-0920-0013 (Hazard Analysis) Document FDA 2011-N-0921-0001 (Produce) |
State Efforts to Enhance Medicaid Program IntegrityFriday, March 15
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The scope of Medicaid has broadened dramatically in recent years, a trend attributed to the expansion of eligibility guidelines, growth of the eligible population, increased utilization and a marked increase in the services covered. This expansion brings with it an increase in costs along with challenges related to service delivery and, correspondingly, the potential for fraud and abuse. Not only does the misuse of Medicaid funds result in the depletion of scarce resources, but it also prevents the direction of these resources to deliver high priority health care services to eligible Medicaid recipients. As states grapple with meeting these increasingly complex challenges, policymakers are devoting a great deal of time and resources to ensure that the misuse of scarce Medicaid resources is kept to a minimum. States are implementing a range of actions to ensure the most effective and efficient policies and tools are in place with regard to their Medicaid programs. Presenters
PresentationsState Efforts to Enhance Medicaid Program Integrity Archived Webinar |
The Meningitis Outbreak and the Regulation of Compounding Companies: Federal and State RolesThursday, January 3, 2013 |
This webinar, presented by CSG’s Southern Legislative Conference, will focus on the recent meningitis outbreak and the ensuing federal and state responses. In early October 2012, reports of fungal meningitis began popping up in clusters throughout the nation. Today, the disease has affected more than 540 people across 19 states and caused 36 deaths. The outbreak is attributed to the use of contaminated steroids--and possibly two other drugs--made by a compounding pharmacy in Massachusetts, which according to federal investigative reports, was operating outside the boundaries of it its compounding license. The pharmacy was shut down. More than two months following the initial recall of the steroid, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is still receiving reports of infection. Presenters
PresentationsThe Meningitis Outbreak and the Regulation of Compounding Companies: Federal and State Roles Archived Webinar |
Pension Reforms in the South:
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This webinar focused on public pensions, one of the most challenging fiscal issues confronting every state and local government across the country. Even before the Great Recession, most state and local government pension plans were struggling to meet their pension and retiree health care obligations. The gaps between assets and liabilities in these public pension plans had widened as a result of plan sponsors failing to make adequate plan contributions, granting unfunded benefit increases and suffering serious investment losses during the economic downturn. The resulting gap between asset values and projected liabilities has led to steady increases in the actuarially required contributions necessary to help sustain pension plans at the same time that state and local governments face significant other fiscal expenditure categories. In response, in the last three years, more than 40 states made significant changes to their retirement plans in an effort to improve their funding levels.A number of Southern states have been at the forefront of reform and have enacted changes to stabilize the fiscal position of their pension plans.Presenters
PresentationsArchived Webinar |
Higher Education Finance ReformTuesday, Oct. 23, 2012, 2-3 p.m. EDT
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Many states have introduced performance measures into their higher education funding formulas to create institutional incentives to improve productivity. No state has moved further than Tennessee in rewriting its college funding system to facilitate the types of advances the state most wants to see. The Complete College Act in Tennessee rewards institutions for graduation performance and recognizes the different purposes of the institutions in the state to create a system that delivers results for the state’s investment in higher education. Presenters
PresentationsHigher Education Finance Reform Links(from TN Higher Education Commission)
Authorizing LegislationComplete College Tennessee Act of 2010 Archived Webinar |
The Southern Legislative Conference (SLC) of The Council of State Governments was established in 1947 and is composed of the presiding officers and key legislators from 15 Southern states. The SLC is a non-partisan, non-profit organization located in Atlanta, Georgia.
phone: (404) 633-1866 | fax: (404) 633-4896 | email: slc@csg.org | P.O. Box 98129, Atlanta, Georgia 30359
