COMMISSION ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND STATE SOVEREIGNTY

MINUTES

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Approved 11/27/06

Members Present:  Rep. Kathie Keenan, Co-chair; Sen. Ginny Lyons, Co-chair;

John Boomhover; Lawrence Bruce, Jr.; Daniel Brush; Elliot Burg;

John Waite; Kevin Dorn* (Secretary of Commerce and Community

Development represented Dana Eidsness)

Members Absent:  Dana Eidsness*

Also Present:         Legislative staff, and the public

Recording:             CD 2006 – 3, 4, 5

Convene, Review and Approve 9/28/06 Meeting Minutes

The minutes were approved unanimously without change.

Review Informational Materials

Robin Lunge, Legislative Counsel

Legislative staff reviewed the binders provided to the commission members, including the general organization and the materials provided at this time.

Understanding International Trade and State Options for Oversight

Peter Riggs, Director, Forum on Democracy and Trade (see also Powerpoint handout).

Peter introduced himself and the Forum. Peter discussed different ways to think about trade and globalization, how domestic policy becomes an international trade issue and how states can be involved in the issues. Peter also suggested several options for Vermont to focus on.

Commission Communication and Future Agenda Topics

The commission discussed areas of possible interest of focus and identified the following areas of interest: agriculture; health areas – pharmaceuticals, health insurance, professional regulation; challenges Vermont businesses might be faced with, including using trade agreements offensively; environmental regulation – land-use, procurement issues with environmental characteristics (e.g. mandates re: use of recycled materials); utilities and energy; people coming over the border to work (health care, agriculture, etc); and banking and insurance issues. The commission also discussed whether they should focus on areas where the Congressional delegation could be influential. The commission decided to ask Vermont’s Congressional staff to come to a meeting to speak about the commission’s concerns at a future meeting after the commission has identified the issues. After discussion, the commission decided to initially focus on five issues: health, agriculture, environmental/energy, insurance, and all business development issues and challenges.

The commission also discussed communicating between meetings via email. The commission also decided to invite governmental agencies to meetings to learn about the issues. Through email, the commission will identify the appropriate agencies and then contact the agency. Also, the commission decided to organize future meetings around a specific topic.

Next meeting was scheduled for Nov. 27 9-noon.

Draft agenda:

Trade State Commissions – grid.

Maine – structural information & suggestions.

CA – information on CA committee.

Coordinating State response to international trade claims (e.g. Methanex discovery) - CA

Discussion about how to organize Vermont’s  committee

Fast Track.

Business challenges – role of trade in Vermont

Respectfully submitted,

/s/ Robin Lunge, Legislative Counsel