Assembly on Federal Issues
Committee on Commerce and
Communications
Winter Meeting
December 13-15, 2000
Hyatt Regency
Capitol Hill Hotel
Washington, D.C.
Tentative Agenda as of November 6, 2000
Wednesday, December 13, 2000
8:00 am - 6:00 pm Registration
1:00 pm - 3:30 pm Insurance Issues Rising From
Gramm-Leach-Bliley
Part I: Agent and Broker Licensing: 2 Years to Achieve Uniformity
Last year, when Congress approved the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial
Modernization Act, it gave the states three years to achieve uniformity in
the licensing and registering of insurance agents and brokers. This past
year only two state legislatures moved in that direction. The National
Association of Insurance Commissioners has developed model legislation to
help states achieve uniformity. This session will discuss the provisions
of the model legislation and the ramifications if at least 29 states fail
to achieve uniform provisions for licensing and registering of agents and
brokers by the end of 2002.
Part II: Reconciling Federal and State Privacy Regulation
When Congress passed Gramm-Leach-Bliley, they charged the
federal regulators to write implementing privacy rules for banks, credit
unions and thrifts, while leaving it up to the states to implement a
uniform privacy rule based on GLB for the business of insurance. The
National Association of Insurance Commissioners has developed a model
privacy regulation for the states. While in some states the insurance
commissioner could act to adopt the model regulation, in other states the
commissioner would not have that statutory authority to do so without
legislative action. This session will discuss the details of the NAIC
model regulation, the scope of the privacy protections as compared with
the federal regulations, and the ramifications of state action could have
on potential federal preemption of state regulatory authority in the
future.
3:30 pm - 4:30 pm The NCCUSL Process: Impartial or Industry
Driven - The Development of UCITA and UETA
The National Conference of Commissioners of Uniform State Laws has been
one of the leading organizations for producing model statutes to bring
about uniformity among the states particularly with regard to commercial
activities. What do we know about NCCUSL? Who appoints the members and to
whom are they accountable? What is the process for the development of
model legislation? Who decides the issues on which NCCUSL will work? Last
year, NCCUSL adopted two model statutes for states to consider with regard
to information technology and electronic commerce. One of those bills, the
Uniform Computer Information Transaction Act or UCITA has been very
controversial and has been marred by accusations that industries affected
by the legislation may have had undue influence in producing the model
legislation. This session will provide an overview of NCCUSL, its process
and a discussion as to whether state legislatures need to more involved in
the selection of commissioners and the review of NCCUSL's work
product.
4:45 pm - 6:00 pm Assembly on Federal Issues Steering Committee
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm Opening Reception
Thursday, December 14, 2000
8:00 am - 9:30 am Opening Plenary Breakfast
9:30 am - 11:30 am Closing the Digital Divide - Federal and
State Responses
The growth of the Internet has been phenomenal. However, many Americans
still lack adequate access to the Internet, particularly in low income and
rural areas. What has become known as the Digital Divide needs to be
addressed by both federal and State governments in cooperation with the
private sector. This session will review joint government-private sector
initiatives to close the divide as well as the federal and state
relationship. The Committee will consider a policy statement on access to
the Internet for all Americans during the Committee's Business
Meeting.
11:45 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Working Lunch - Smart Buildings - An Access
Issue
In many localities, tenants in large office and residential buildings
have limited access to various communications services. Recently efforts
have begun in Congress as well as in some state legislatures to ensure
that all communication providers have access to these buildings. The
session will discuss the federal legislation and review its impact on
state regulations and efforts to ensure access to all
providers.
12:30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. Telecommunications and the Internet
In the 106th Congress, legislation was considered to do away
with "reciprocal compensation" requirements on dial-up calls to Internet
Service Providers (ISPs) exchanged between local carriers. Reciprocal
compensation allows a phone company terminating another's calls to charge
a fee. The author of the Congressional legislation claimed that incumbent
local exchange carriers, the regional Bells, were paying as much as $2
billion a year in fees in "reciprocal compensation" to competitive local
exchange carriers (CLECs) which are utilized by many ISPs for their local
telephone service. As the Bells provide most of the telephone service for
residential customers, CLECs benefit financially from thousands of
Bell-originated calls that terminate on their systems. In some cases ISPs
have changed into CLECs to maximize the benefits of reciprocal
compensation. Some states have enacted legislation to address this issue.
This session will address the issue of reciprocal compensation, its impact
on consumers and the roll out of broadband
capabilities.
2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. State Regulated Banking in the 21st
Century
In the last five years, Congress has considered and enacted financial
services legislation which challenges the way states have regulated
financial services for the past few decades. From the Riegle-Neal
Interstate Banking and Branching Act to the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial
Services Modernization Act, coupled with the advances in electronic
commerce and the impact of global markets, state banking regulation has
had to adapt to stay competitive with the national bank charter. This
session will address the changing nature of state banking regulation and
provide a discussion for the Committee in preparation of its consideration
of two policy statements: Banking Regulation and State
Sovereignty in Financial Services.
4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Committee Business Meeting
The members of the Commerce & Communications Committee will
consider the following policy statements:
Banking Regulation
State Sovereignty in Financial
Services
Closing the Digital Divide
The Committee also will discuss possible Action Calendar Resolutions
with regard to:
Streamlined Sales Tax Project
Reciprocal
Compensation
5:15 pm - 6:00 pm Assembly on Federal Issues Steering
Committee
6:15 pm - 7:45 pm Reception
Friday, December 15, 2000
8:30 am - 10:30 am Special Briefings: Continental Breakfast
8:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. Special Briefing: Streamlined Sales Tax
Project
Next year, state legislatures will consider model legislation intended
to simplify state sales tax systems. A principal objective of the
Streamlined Sales Tax Project is to facilitate collection of state and
local sales and use taxes on Internet and other out-of-state sales. This
briefing will prepare legislators and staff for consideration of the model
legislation during the 2001 sessions.
10:45 am - 12:00 pm AFI Business Meeting
12:00 pm - 2:00 pm Closing Plenary Luncheon
2:00 pm Meeting Adjourns
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