May 26 – 28, 2010 , Custer, SD
Conference Materials
Introduction & Overview
Women In Government (WIG) is a non-profit, bi-partisan organization of all female state legislators across the country. WIG provides educational resources, expert forums, networking and leadership opportunities.
Each year WIG holds conferences for each of its four regions. On May 26 – 28, 2010 WIG convened women state legislators for the 17th Annual Midwestern Regional Conference. The conference brought together more than 40 policymakers from the states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Wisconsin to discuss current policy issues facing the region.
WIG’s Regional Conferences provide a unique opportunity for female state legislators to network with colleagues from across their region, share ideas and discuss pertinent policy topics. Expert speakers present on the important and emerging topics that face the region, then legislators are provided the time to ask questions and discuss the topics with the experts.
Presentations framed important discussions on:
- Paths to Power and Leadership;
- The Case for Adult Vaccines;
- Healthcare Reform and Its Impact on States;
- Trends in Rural Economic Development;
- Women’s Sexual Health;
- Patient Centered Medical Homes: The Impact on Healthcare Delivery;
- The Impact of Ethanol on the Economy and the Environment;
- More Than Skin Deep: Skin Cancer and Public Health;
- Redistricting;
- Gun Violence in Domestic Situations; and
- Improving Outcomes for Offenders with Mental Illness.
This Regional Conference not only energized legislators, it also helped them to develop a plan on how to deal with the unique challenges facing the Midwest. It continued to strengthen WIG’s reputation for advancing effective policy specifically in the Midwestern region, and across the country.
Summary of Sessions
Paths to Power and Leadership
Senator Connie Lawson
Majority Floor Leader
Indiana State Legislature
Senator Rita Heard Days
Assistant Minority Leader
Missouri State Legislature
This segment featured women who serve in a leadership role in their state legislature, and their professional and personal experiences on the path to power.
In the United States, women account for about 24 percent of state legislators or approximately 1,800 women for 7,400 seats in state legislatures. This ranks the United States 68 of 134 nations worldwide. In addition, minority women face a unique challenge in state legislatures as they represent a small percentage of representation as a whole. Also, women currently hold only 56 leadership positions in state legislatures across the country.
The goal of effective leadership is to make a positive impact in the lives of those served. The keys to rising to a leadership position include empowering others, being a good listener, rejecting partisanship, building diverse partnerships and maintaining focus on purpose and vision. Women face particular difficulties in their rise to leadership and in their role as leaders. However, women also have a unique opportunity to effect positive change as leaders in state legislatures.
The Case for Adult Vaccines
Gregory Poland, MD
Director, Vaccine Research Group
Mayo Clinic
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) adults should be getting vaccinations to protect against influenza, pneumococcal, tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, herpes, and zoster, among other diseases. Adults are less likely to get vaccinated simply because they are unaware of the need, concerns over vaccine efficacy, the cost of vaccinations, and/or a belief that risk of contracting a disease is small. However, adults contract vaccine preventable diseases at a much higher rate than children. This session discussed the need for adult vaccines and the vital role legislators can play in supporting awareness and access.
Healthcare Reform and Its Impact on States
Judy Baker, MHA
Regional Director, Region 7
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
Federal healthcare reform is bringing many changes to states. These changes will require states to address: universal coverage; cost containment and affordability; coverage expansion; individual mandates; and regulations regarding denial of coverage for pre-existing conditions. States must implement some components of federal healthcare reform immediately; and others by 2014. Some states are concerned over potential challenges regarding unfunded federal mandates and the potential costs. States cannot separate healthcare reform from decisions regarding the state budget. Legislators must focus on the requirements and options they have to consider in order to comply with the federal healthcare reform.
Legislators should focus on the most immediate requirements states will have to implement, and take the implementation one step at a time. One option is to establish temporary high risk pools, however if a state chooses not to implement this option, the federal government will still cover those in need. States should also establish an Office of Consumer Information & Oversight, along with a website and portal for consumers, so that the people in state will be able to follow and understand the implementation, and how it affects them. From 2010 and after, states should be encouraged to do an impact study, such as Kansas has done. Legislators can also refer to healthreform.gov, which provides extensive and up-to-date healthcare implementation information.
Question and Answer
Q: Small business tax credit and early retiree program- how is information getting distributed?
JB: Through insurers and chambers of commerce.
Q: Are decisions to opt-in an executive branch or legislative branch decision? Who has the authority to make these healthcare related decisions?
JB: Generally the executive branch is charged with implementing healthcare reform.
Trends in Rural Economic Development
Carolyn Orr, PhD, PAS
Executive Secretary
State Agriculture and Rural Leaders, Inc.
Emerging issues – sustainable farming, revised financial lending practices, and an increasing need for a four-year degree or other training – pose challenges for family farms. With the current economy and the realities of farming today, even our definition of the family farm is changing.
View Presentation
Scott Parsley
Assistant General Manager, Member Services
East River Electric Power Cooperative
Legislators can impact smart grid development in various ways. By searching for public participants, like was done in South Dakota, where the state legislature will pay for part of the wind farm co-op, and not just the cost of renting the land, in conjunction with a public partner. Another benefit is that there is a renewable generation from heat off compression of natural gas pipelines. Midwestern legislators should focus on the many options they have to help retain successful family farms within their state.
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Women’s Sexual Health
Sheryl Kingsberg, PhD
Chief, Division of Behavioral Medicine
University Hospitals Case Medical Center
Professor of Reproductive Biology
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Sexual health can play an important role in overall health and well-being. Studies show that 70 percent of women have experienced a sexual health problem, usually lack of desire, yet most women do not seek medical care when they experience one. This presentation provided an overview of female sexual desire, and more specifically, the prevalence of hypoactive sexual desire disorder and how it affects women’s overall health and well-being, and what the policy implications are.
A study called the Prevalence of Female Sexual Problems Associated With Distress and Determinants of Treatment Seeking (PRESIDE), surveyed over 31,000 U.S. women and found that approximately 43 percent of women surveyed had experienced a sexual problem. Over 73 percent of physicians perceived that their patients were reluctant to bring up sexual issues, many of which never end up seeking help at all. While the majority of psychological study on sexual desire has been focused on men, sexual desire is thought to involve a specific area of the brain called the hypothalamus and includes activation of the neurotransmitter dopamine and sexual arousal is thought to involve activation of another neurotransmitter called norepinephrine. Raising awareness of the psychological impact of sexual health and the prevalence of hypoactive sexual desire disorder is important to generally improving the lives of women.
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Patient Centered Medical Homes: The Impact on Healthcare Delivery
Richard Roberts, MD, JD
Professor of Family Medicine
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine & Public Health
This session discussed the connection between primary care physicians and the potential impact of patient centered medical homes (PCMHs). Issues discussed included efficient healthcare delivery, evaluating the role of primary care physicians and primary pharmacists in managing patient care, including chronic disease and pain management. It also analyzed the role of prescription medications, potential substance abuse concerns, and how state healthcare costs will be impacted.
In the current American health system, patients rely on specialized practitioners. This leads to excessive and inefficient cost structures that reward duplicate x-rays, unnecessary tests, multiple consultations with differing specialists, and other ancillary procedures. Primary care offers equity effects such as improved self-rated health, reduced disparities, and reduced effects of income inequality. Additionally, specialist fees and salaries increase, while primary care practitioner fees decline. Primary care physicians have the ability and inclination to consider the holistic health condition of his patients, and it is widely agreed upon in the health industry that recipients of primary care live longer, healthier lives.
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Question and Answer
Q: What did federal healthcare reform do with PCMH?
RR: It set up pilot programs with education incentives to potentially increase the usage of primary care over specialist care based on the results.
The Impact of Ethanol on the Economy and the Environment
Doug Berven
Director, Corporate Affairs
POET
Ethanol and other biofuels have gained attention as part of a balanced energy approach that promises to reduce dependence on foreign oil and conserve non-renewable resources. Some suggest, however, that relying on ethanol creates adverse effects on food supply and prices, land use, water conservation, and other critical aspects of the economy and environment.
The federal government just passed Renewable Fuel Standards, requiring a 26 percent increase in renewable fuel by 2022. The U.S. needs markets for its increased agricultural and corn production, or corn prices and land value will drop if there is not a market; developing a market for ethanol will help stabilize corn and land prices. Before investing in ethanol, however, the infrastructure needs to be established.
Question and Answer
Q: What about problems with not having enough flex fuel vehicles? Are they working with auto manufacturers?
DB: Yes, Chrysler, Ford, GM have all committed to building up to 50 percent of their fleet for E85.
More Than Skin Deep: Skin Cancer and Public Health
Kathryn Guccione Chandra, MA
Assistant Director, State Policy
American Academy of Dermatology Association
According to the American Academy of Dermatology Association, skin cancer rates in the United States have reached epidemic proportions. Each year, there are more than one million new cases of skin cancer diagnosed, and at current rates, one in five Americans will develop skin cancer at some point in their life. This can impact families, communities, and health care costs. Among creating awareness and education programs, states can also regulate the use of indoor tanning beds to help reduce the prevalence and impact of skin cancer among teens and young adults.
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Question and Answer
Q: News reports say that a Vitamin D deficiency can affect women’s fertility health.- Meyers, FL
KC: There is an ongoing debate about how much Vitamin D really impacts health, and there is no definitive answer.
Q: Does UV cause eye damage?
KC: Yes, it can cause macular degeneration.
Redistricting
Myrna Pérez, JD
Counsel
Brennan Center for Justice, New York University School of Law
Representative Annette Sweeny
Iowa State Legislature
On April 1, 2011 states will receive redistricting data based on the 2010 census figures, and by the end of session in 2011 or early 2012 most redistricting will be complete. In most states the legislature has primary control of drawing the district lines. If the legislature or other entities are unable to draw district lines then ultimately courts decide. In the last cycle, courts drew legislative districts in seven states and drew nine congressional districts. Federal protections require equal population in the districts, “one person, one vote.” The Voting Rights Act also must be taken into account so that minority votes are not diluted. The principles for effective redistricting include: meaningful transparency, meaningful independence, meaningful diversity, and meaningful guidance.
Legislators discussed the short term actions, such as fixing prison counts by counting prisoners where they come from instead of where they are incarcerated. Following that immediate correction, legislators should emphasize transparency in the process by having public logs documenting redistricting, which will avoid gerrymandering for political benefit or personal purposes and hopefully emphasize the end goal of creating communities of properly represented constituencies.
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Question and Answer
Q: South Dakota had a bill for an independent committee for redistricting, but electives and politics prevented passage?
MP: Suggestion is to start process early so that elected officials and the public know about it and that there is transparency throughout the process.
Gun Violence in Domestic Situations
Lindsay Nichols, JD
Staff Attorney
Legal Community Against Violence
Gun violence often plays a prevalent role in domestic violence cases. The Journal of American Medical Women’s Association stated in 2005 that “women are twice as likely to be shot and killed by intimate partners as they are to be murdered by strangers using any type of weapon.” With these statistics in mind, this session focused on what states have done to remove guns from domestic violence situations and how states can strengthen their current gun laws. States can address these situations by strengthening gun laws in five areas (prohibiting, notifying, surrendering, removing and reporting) and to enforce the federal prohibitions or go beyond federal law.
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Improving Outcomes for Offenders with Mental Illness
Laura Pitman, PhD
Deputy Director, Female Offender Operations
Oklahoma Department of Corrections
The number of persons with serious and persistent mental illness entering the criminal justice system has increased dramatically over the past few decades, so much so that prisons have been referred to as “The New Asylums.” This presentation addressed both diversion and re-entry strategies that enhance public safety, enhance recovery, and reduce recidivism for persons with mental illness. States can create programs to improve re-entry into the community, and improve the lives of those affected with mental illness, as well as the safety of those around them.
Arguments for reform often focus on the increase in public safety. Women are particularly affected; 80 percent of women in prisons have history of domestic violence in relationships, which can often lead to a mental disorder. Additionally, overhauling a flawed system usually results in an increase in cost effectiveness. States can increase the success of health outcomes for patients with mental illness by improving their mental health programs.
Question and Answer
Q: How can we move toward assisted community treatment?
LP: Need to partner with other departments in states that work with these patients/offenders. SAMHSA grant brought money to bring stakeholders together and create a data sharing agreement.
