Agriculture & Rural Development
Agricultural Trade with Cuba
Collin Laverty, President, Cuba Educational Travel, Florida
Mike Strain, D.V.M., Commissioner, Department of Agriculture and Forestry, Louisiana
Floods and Farm Relief Packages
Clint Leach, Assistant Commissioner, South Carolina Department of Agriculture
Senator Greg Hembree, South Carolina
State Implementation of the Food Safety and Modernization Act
Joe Reardon, Assistant Commissioner, North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
Economic Development, Transportation, Cultural Affairs
Autonomous and Connected Vehicles: The Road Ahead
Scott Shogan, Vice President, Connected/Automated Vehicle Market Leader, WSP USA, Michigan
Senator Jim Tracy, Speaker Pro Tempore, Tennessee
The Workforce of 2025: One State’s Path Forward
Mike Krause, Executive Director, Tennessee Higher Education Commission
The Golden Triangle: Advanced Manufacturing in Mississippi
Joe Max Higgins, Jr., Chief Executive Officer, The Golden Triangle, Mississippi
Historic Preservation and Tax Credits
Lolly Rash, Executive Director, Mississippi Heritage Trust
Education
An Overview of “Mississippi Education Works”
Loan Forgiveness and Scholarships for Teacher Recruitment and Retention
Leveraging Technology in the Classroom
Handout 1: Overview, Office of Educational Technology, U.S. Department of Education
Handout 2: Future Ready Schools: Quick Reference Guide of Key Questions for Planning Technology Infrastructure
Bobby Cox, Ed.S., Director of Schools, Warren County, Tennessee
The State of Broadband in Rural Schools
Michael Turzanski, Director, State Engagements, EducationSuperHighway, California
Handout: E-Rate Essentials
Energy & Environment
Lessons in Resilience: Coastal Restoration in Mississippi
Gary Rikard, Executive Director, Department of Environmental Quality, Mississippi
The Road to the Future: Georgia’s Laboratory for Sustainable Infrastructure Innovation
Allie Kelly, Executive Director, The Ray, Georgia
Energy Resilience and the U.S. Military: Lessons for the States
Fiscal Affairs & Government Operations
Public Pensions: A Fiscal Imperative
Herb Frierson, Commissioner, Department of Revenue, Mississippi
Donald J. Boyd, Ph.D., Director of Fiscal Studies, Rockefeller Institute of Government, New York
Recent Trends in State Budgets
John Hicks, Executive Director, National Association of State Budget Officers, Washington, D.C.
The Hidden Risks of P3s: Fiscal Challenges and Opportunities
Bradley J. Nowak, Partner, Williams Mullen, Washington, D.C.
Human Services & Public Safety
Managing Foster Care Systems
Michelle Dhunjishah, Director, Children’s Law Center, University of South Carolina
Long-Term Care in the South
Kathleen Ujvari, Senior Strategic Policy Advisor, AARP Public Policy Institute, Washington, D.C.
Anne Tumlinson, Chief Executive Officer, Anne Tumlinson Innovations LLC, Washington, D.C.
Men’s Health
Mike Leventhal, Executive Director, Tennessee Men’s Health Network
Harry Tindell, Former Representative, Tennessee
Healthcare Reform
Jennifer Tolbert, Director, State Health Reform, Kaiser Family Foundation, Washington, D.C.
Comparative Data Reports
Adult Corrections: Monique Appeaning, Legislative Fiscal Office, Louisiana
Education: Hank Hager, Senate, West Virginia
Medicaid: Zachary M. Rau, Legislative Fiscal Office, Louisiana
Staff Workshop
Supreme Court Update: A Briefing from the State and Local Legal Center
Lisa Soronen, Executive Director, State and Local Legal Center, Washington, D.C.
Handout: Supreme Court Review for States 2017
How a Repeal of the Affordable Care Act Would Affect State Governments
Mattie Quinn, Health Writer, Governing, Washington, D.C.
Parliamentary Procedure: History and Practice
Kay Allison Crews, President, American Institute of Parliamentarians, Texas
Program Design and Performance Evaluation
Kirby Arinder, Ph.D., Research Methodologist, Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review, Mississippi
State Transformation in Action Recognition (STAR) Award Judges Panel
Arkansas – Amputation Prevention Stand-Down Program
West Virginia – Electronic Application Processing System (Winner)
Tennessee – Prioritizing Student Veterans (Winner)
West Virginia – Sexual Assault Evidence Collection Kit Information System
Louisiana – Integrative Behavioral and Primary Care Model