NASBO's 2012 Annual Meeting in Rhode Island was a great success. Special thanks to the Rhode Island Department of Administration - Budget Office for all of their hard work. Below are a few highlights from the meeting sessions. NASBO members with individual user accounts can now access all speaker presentations under the NASBO Member Content tab, Past Meeting Presentations.

Comments from Attendees:

“Each session provided some thing I didn’t know before or had not thought of.”

"The networking opportunities were extremely useful to make contacts."

“It was very helpful to have so many high-level people from budget offices around the country. These people had a broad knowledge of various programs and were the decision makers who were more directly affected by many of the issues covered during the conference”

"Enjoyed networking and talking with others, sharing other states concerns, and how they are dealing with various issues.”

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Learn more about the 2013 Annual Meeting in Alaska!
 

Speakers Overview:

Economic Outlook
Nigel Gault, Chief U.S. Economist of IHS Global Insight, discussed that while some economic indicators have shown recent improvement, states still face many headwinds both domestically and abroad. Gault also stated that Congress needs to take action before sequestration kicks in and tax cuts and other provisions expire at the end of 2012; if Congress does nothing, GDP could decline by 3 percent.

Medicaid Cost Containment and Health Care Exchanges
Darin Gordon, Director of TennCare, talked about his experiences in leading Tennessee’s Medicaid program. In 1994, Tennessee became the first state in the country to enroll its entire Medicaid population into managed care as well as the first state to offer Medicaid to all uninsured citizens. Gordon also discussed lessons learned that can help states with their decisions regarding health care reform.

State Perspectives: Health Care Reform and Medicaid
Kathleen Nolan from the National Association of Medicaid Directors discussed the impact of the Supreme Court’s Affordable Care Act ruling on states, as well as factors states will need to keep in mind when making decisions like whether or not to expand Medicaid. In addition, state health and human services professionals – Corrinne Altman Moore from Massachusetts and Elena Nicolella from Rhode Island – shared insights from their states’ experiences leading health care reform initiatives.

State Budgeting Using Performance Measures
State budget directors, Debbie Dlugolenski Alford of Georgia and Dan Timberlake of Virginia, talked candidly about their states’ efforts to adopt performance-based budgeting practices and utilize performance information in decision-making, while also sharing some key lessons learned and obstacles faced during the process. The panel discussion was moderated by Ed Burke from the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Consolidating and Reorganizing State Government
This panel discussion featured insights from Preston Doerflinger, Oklahoma State Finance Director, Mike Esmond, Budget Director of Massachusetts, Cris Johnson, Deputy Chief of Staff for the Indiana Governor’s Office, and Robert Megna, New York Budget Director. The four panelists led a group discussion regarding their experiences in streamlining state government.  Topics discussed included IT reorganization, enterprise shared services, transforming state agencies and the use of performance-based data, and compiling a comprehensive list of state assets.

Update on State Pension Issues
Richard Licht, Director of the Rhode Island Department of Administration, updated NASBO members on the recent changes to the state’s public employee retirement system and the key factors that led the state to pass meaningful retirement reform. Licht discussed the legal challenges to pension reform and the importance of knowing the facts before taking steps to improve plan solvency.  In addition, Dan Sherman, CEO of Sherman Actuarial Services, explained how the new standards passed by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) in June will impact pension asset valuation methods, pension reporting requirements and actuarial standards.

State Credit Issues
Robert Kurtter, Managing Director for U.S. State and Regional Ratings with Moody’s Investors Service, gave a comprehensive overview of the municipal markets and highlighted the current underlying credit issues that Moody’s is most actively tracking. Kurtter noted that Moody’s is directing research efforts to meet the informational demands of state and local debt investors by providing more clarity on pension liabilities.

Member Panel on Municipal Oversight: The Role of the State
Rosemary Booth Gallogly, Rhode Island’s Revenue Director, provided a detailed account of how her state stepped in to help the City of Central Falls address its financial crisis, while Andrew Clinger, City Manager of Reno and former Nevada Budget Director, offered further insight on the state-local relationship drawing from his experience on both sides. Robert Kurtter also weighed in on the discussion, explaining how credit rating agencies are taking notice of whether and how states intervene in municipal fiscal crises.  

Federal Budget and Legislative Update
Marcia Howard, Federal Funds Information for States (FFIS) Executive Director, described the current fiscal landscape at the federal level and outstanding issues that Congress will need to address before the end of this calendar year, including the Budget Control Act’s looming sequester, expiring tax provisions, and other expiring legislation and program authorizations.

Corrections Spending and Current State Policies
Mike Thompson, Director of the Justice Center at the Council of State Governments, discussed opportunities for states to reduce corrections spending while also improving public safety by targeting the offending population most likely to recommit crimes. Thompson explained that new data intensive research is providing insight on which corrections programs when appropriately targeted reduce recidivism.

Emerging Trends in Information Technology and Policies Impacting the States
Doug Robinson, Executive Director of the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO), described today’s state IT landscape, explained how state CIOs are focusing on standardization, rationalization, collaboration, and innovation, and reviewed findings from NASCIO’s 2011 State CIO Survey.