I am pleased to report that I have been named the chairman of the Health Committee of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). The appointment was announced by NCSL President Dan Blue, North Carolina's senior house minority leader.

"I am honored to represent the interests of state legislatures in the continuing debate over the changing state-federal relationship.

The Health Committee is one of nine standing committees of NCSL's policymaking body, the Assembly on Federal Issues (AFI). The policies stress three themes: Opposition to unfunded federal mandates, prevention of unnecessary preemption of state laws, and protection of state revenue sources. The AFI facilitates NCSL's lobbying efforts by testifying before Congress and administration officials on behalf of the nation's state legislators.

I had the opportunity to join a group of new AFI officers in Washington, DC last week to plan the AFI lobbying and program agenda for the year. Heading the list of AFI priorities for the 106th session of Congress is medical records confidentiality, patient bill of rights, federal auto insurance, Superfund, electric utility deregulation and elementary education.

NCSL has just completed a successful year in representing the interests of the states in Washington, DC, including fighting preemption in the "Takings" and product liability bills and securing state spending flexibility in the Workforce Training and Surface Transportation Reauthorization legislation.

NCSL is a bipartisan organization serving more than 7,000 legislators and 30,000 legislative staff from the nation's 50 states and its commonwealths and territories. NCSL provides research and technical assistance on policy issues, monitors federal legislation and actively works with Congress to protect states' authority.

Legislation I sponsored to improve the treatment of patients with severe pain was recently signed by Governor George Pataki.

The new law, which takes effect Nov. 1, eases the state's requirements for health care practitioners to prescribe controlled substances when managing the pain of terminally and chronically ill patients.

New York State's current regulations relating to the use and prescription of controlled substances are seen by many professionals as a significant barrier to the delivery of quality care to those in pain.

Rules need to be eased because both physicians and pharmacists fear unwarranted regulatory scrutiny if they prescribe or fill a prescription for a controlled substance. As a result, they often substitute less effective, noncontrolled drugs, rather than controlled substances specifically designed to address the patient's symptoms.

This legislation changes the definition of "addict" so physicians no longer have to report their legitimate patients to the state health department, removing the negative stigma associated with the term.

Another provision of the new law makes it easier for doctors to prescribe medications in limited amounts through the partial filling of prescriptions which avoids prescribing potentially wasteful amounts of powerful drugs.

The law also attempts to ease cumbersome bureaucracy by reducing the burdensome triplicate filing process for prescriptions to a single serialized form. Practitioners are also given the option to file directly with the department of health via electronic means.