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NCSL 2005-6 Standing Committees Chair Senator Don Balfour (R-Georgia), left, presents the gavel to
Senator Moore who will serve as chair for the 2006-2007 term.
The Chair of Standing Committees presides at meetings of the chairs of the organization’s policy committees and the national business meetings representing state legislators from all 50 states. |
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August 23, 2006 - Massachusetts State Senator Richard T. Moore (D-Uxbridge) has been appointed as Chairman of the Standing Committees of the bi-partisan National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) following the organization’s annual meeting last week in Nashville, Tennessee, according to Texas State Senator Leticia Van de Putte, NCSL President. In this influential post, the Bay State lawmaker will chair the NCSL Steering Committee to coordinate the work of the group’s standing committees and task forces. He will also preside at the NCSL’s three national business meetings that set federal relations goals for the organization. Moore succeeds Georgia Senator Don Balfour who served in that post for the past year.
The National Conference of State Legislatures serves as the forum for America’s 7,328 state legislators from every state to explore new ideas for solving the challenges faced in each state legislature. Senator Moore and his colleagues from the 50 states meet each year to share ideas, learn new strategies, and hear from experts in every important issue area. While some states cover the travel costs of their legislators, Senator Moore’s trip was not financed with taxpayer funds. “I believe that participation in NCSL helps me to be a better legislator to serve the needs of my constituents and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,” Moore stated. “It’s an investment that I make with my own funds in an effort to provide better public service,” he added.
“NCSL has a strong track record of gaining federal funding for the states and including state concerns in the policy discussions of Congress and the Administration,” Senator Moore noted. “Massachusetts gained many millions of additional Medicaid dollars a few years ago during tough budget times through NCSL’s effective lobbying,” he said. “Without the strong, bi-partisan voice of NCSL in the corridors, public hearings, and private offices of federal power-brokers, states would be severely harmed by federal attempts to pre-empt state authority or impose new unfunded mandates on state taxpayers,” Moore added.
Senator Moore has a long record of service to the national organization of legislators and legislative staff. He is beginning his fifth year as a member of the NCSL Executive Committee and co-chairs the group’s Task Force on Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness and the new NCSL e-Health Project. He also serves on the NCSL Health Committee, the Task Force on Medicaid and the NCSL Health Chairs Project.
During this years’ conference in Nashville, TN, Senator Moore authored a policy resolution to direct the NCSL Washington Office to oppose a provision inserted by the U. S. House of Representatives in the Defense Appropriations Act that would take away the traditional authority for control of the National Guard from state governors and give it to the President in times of national disasters. The issue is currently being negotiated in a Senate-House Conference Committee in Washington and is also opposed by the National Governor’s Association. Moore gained acceptance of his resolution by the Task Force on Homeland Security, the NCSL Executive Committee and, ultimately, by the full NCSL membership. Because of Moore’s efforts, NCSL will now lobby Congress to remove this attempt at pre-emption of state authority from the pending federal legislation.
In addition to chairing a meeting of the Task Force on Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, Senator Moore also chaired a meeting of a new public-private partnership project to promote the use of health technology in the states. He also participated in an Evaluation of the NCSL Project on Hunger and Nutrition, a meeting of the NCSL Executive Committee and its Budget and Rules Subcommittee, the NCSL Standing Committee on Health, and the Medicaid Task Force.
Senator Moore, one of the major authors of the new Massachusetts Health Reform law, was also a panelist with House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi (D-Boston) and Heritage Foundation Health Policy Expert Edmund Haislmaier to explain Massachusetts’ sweeping new legislation to lead to universal health insurance coverage – a plan that has been embraced by both liberals and conservatives. The panel drew an audience of over 300 which, according to the NCSL staff was the best attended panel discussion of the week. In addition to the panel on the Massachusetts Health Reform Law, Moore was also a panelist on the threat of Avian Flu with Admiral John O. Agwunobi, U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health, and Dr. Ron Wilson, Tennessee State Veterinarian. Senator Moore, a former Associate Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is among the leading legislators in the nation in developing policies for dealing with public health emergencies such as Avian flu, Anthrax, and SARS.
In remarks to the NCSL Business Meeting delivered by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, the Secretary twice singled out Senator Moore and his Homeland Security Task Force Co-Chair, New York State Sen. Michael Balboni (R-Long Island) for their leadership in the effort to strengthen the nation’s preparedness for terrorist attack, health emergencies, or natural disasters.
Senator Moore also served as a host of the “2007 Taste of Boston” reception, along with Speaker DiMasi, Senate President Robert E. Travaglini (D-Boston), House Republican Leader Bradley Jones (R-Reading), State Representatives Ronald Mariano (D-Quincy) and Daniel Bosley (D-North Adams) to encourage legislators and staff from the other 49 states to attend the 2007 NCSL Annual Meeting in Boston. It is expected that a convention of the size of NCSL’s will add at least $15 million to the state’s economy in 2007 with many state legislators and staff bringing their families along for a vacation after the annual meeting.
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