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2008 Progressive States Network Legislative Leadership Retreat: Participants
Overview | Agenda | Workshop Descriptions | Participants | Logistics | Reading Materials
Participants
- Plenary Speakers
- Workshop Presenters
- Host Committee
- Participating Legislators
- Participating Organizations
Plenary Speakers
Yali Bair
Vice President for Public Policy,Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California
Yali Bair, PhD is Vice President for Public Policy at Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California. Dr. Bair has over 20 years of experience in women’s health care, research and policy. Her experience includes community clinic administration, women’s health clinic management, health care consulting, including health education, training, curriculum development and grant writing. In addition, she has extensive research experience in epidemiology and health services. Most recently, Dr. Bair was the Assistant Director for State Health Policy Research at the UC Davis Center for Health Care Policy and Research. She has served as senior health policy faculty for the Women’s Policy Institute and a policy analyst for the California Primary Care Association. In addition, Dr. Bair chairs the Yolo County Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health advisory board and is a member of the California Women’s Health Council. Dr. Bair completed her undergraduate training in biological science at the University of California, San Diego and earned a PhD in epidemiology from the University of California, Davis.
Andrea Batista Schlesinger
Executive Director, Drum Major Institute for Public Policy
Since 2002, Andrea has lead the effort to turn the Drum Major Institute, originally founded by an advisor to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., into a progressive policy institute with national impact. During her tenure, DMI has released several important policy papers to national audiences; produced the only progressive analysis of the immigration debate addressing the concerns of the squeezed middle-class; created its Marketplace of Ideas series, which highlights successful progressive policies from across the country; and launched two policy blogs that reach several thousand readers each day. Before DMI, Andrea directed a national campaign to engage college students in the discussion on the future of Social Security for the Pew Charitable Trusts and served as the education advisor to Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer. Andrea studied public policy at the University of Chicago.
Jared Bernstein
Director, Living Standards Program, Economic Policy Institute
Jared Bernstein joined the Economic Policy Institute in 1992. His latest book is Crunch: Why Do I Feel So Squeezed? (And Other Unsolved Economic Mysteries), which follows All Together Now: Common Sense for a Fair Economy. His areas of research include income inequality and mobility, trends in employment and earnings, low-wage labor markets and poverty, international comparisons, and the analysis of federal and state economic policies. He is the co-author of eight editions of the book The State of Working America and has published extensively in popular and academic venues, including The New York Times, Washington Post, American Prospect, and Research in Economics and Statistics. He is also a contributor to the financial news station CNBC.
Rep. Garnet Coleman
Texas House of Representatives; Co-Chair, Progressive States Network
As a Representative of Texas’s 147th District since 1991, Rep. Coleman has garnered a reputation as a formidable champion for working families and communities of color, spearheading major victories for his constituents in the areas of education, health care, and economic development. He has twice been named to the prestigious Texas Monthly Ten Best Legislators list, and in 2004 he was recognized as Outstanding Black Caucus Chair by the Congressional Black Caucus.
Thomas Frank
Columnist, Wall Street Journal; New York Times best-selling author
Thomas Frank is the author of What’s the Matter with Kansas? and One Market Under God. The founding editor of The Baffler and a contributing editor at Harper’s, he is also The Wall Street Journal’s newest weekly columnist. He has received a Lannan award and been a guest columnist for The New York Times. Frank lives in Washington, D.C.
Senator-Elect Eric Griego
Executive Director, New Mexico Voices for Children, Senator-Elect, New Mexico State Senate
Recently elected to represent New Mexico's 14th State Senate District, Eric Griego is currently the Executive Director for New Mexico Voices for Children, a non-profit statewide research and advocacy organization dedicated to improving the well-being of New Mexico's children, youth and families. Appointed by Governor Bill Richardson to serve as Assistant Secretary for the New Mexico Economic Development Department, Eric spearheaded key efforts to spur job growth and small business development in rural and depressed areas of the state. Eric previously served on Albuquerque's City Council from 2001 to 2005.
Gerry Hudson
Executive Vice President, Service Employees International Union
Gerry Hudson serves as international executive vice president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Hudson leads the work of the union's Long Term Care Division, which represents nearly 500,000 nursing home and home care workers nationwide. He is renowned for his work on environmental justice, and he continues to lead SEIU's efforts to win quality, affordable healthcare for all, immigration reform, and other major initiatives by strengthening the union's partnerships and alliances with community groups.
David Cay Johnston
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
David Cay Johnston is an investigative journalist and author. Until April 2008, he was a senior reporter with The New York Times but now works as an independent author and reporter. He is the author of best-selling books on tax and economic policy, the most recently published of which is Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense and Stick You With The Bill, about hidden subsidies, rigged markets, and corporate socialism. It follows his earlier book Perfectly Legal: The Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System to Benefit the Super Rich--and Cheat Everybody Else, a New York Times bestseller.
D. Taylor
Secretary-Treasurer, Culinary Workers Union, UNITE HERE Local 226
D. Taylor has been with Culinary Workers Union, Local 226 for over 21 years and serves as Secretary-Treasurer. He also is a member of UNITE HERE’s Executive Committee, serving as Executive Vice President for Gaming throughout Northern America. He is a Trustee of the HEREIU Health and Welfare Fund, Southern Nevada Culinary and Bartenders Pension Fund and a Board Member of Nevada Partners, the Culinary Training Academy, the Nevada State AFL-CIO, and Communities in Schools of Southern Nevada.
Workshop Presenters
Marvin Ammori
General Counsel, Free Press
Marvin Ammori serves as General Counsel of Free Press, where he has been centrally involved in many of the most prominent media and Internet policy debates, including network neutrality, broadcast ownership limits, children's media rules, wireless policy, and access for all Americans to affordable high-speed internet. He served successfully as the lead counsel for consumer groups and scholars in related FCC proceedings (prompted by filings he authored) that resulted in a landmark decision against Comcast Corp. regarding Internet freedom and FCC jurisdiction. As General Counsel for Free Press and as a staff attorney at Georgetown University Law Center's Institute for Public Representation, he practiced before appellate courts, the Federal Communications Commission, and Congress. Previously, Professor Ammori practiced at a corporate law firm in Chicago and is a graduate of Harvard Law School.
Dean Baker
Co-Director, Center for Economic and Policy Research
Dean Baker co-founded CEPR in 1999. His areas of research include housing and macroeconomics, intellectual property, Social Security, Medicare and European labor markets. He is the author of several books, including Social Security: The Phony Crisis (with Mark Weisbrot) and The Conservative Nanny State: How the Wealthy Use the Government to Stay Rich and Get Richer. His blog, Beat the Press, provides commentary on economic reporting. He received his B.A. from Swarthmore College and his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Michigan.
Phineas Baxandall
Federal Tax & Budget Policy Analyst, U.S. PIRG
Mr. Baxandall oversees policy and strategy development for state PIRGs’ tax and budget campaigns throughout the U.S. He comes to the PIRGs from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government where he assisted in directing the Taubman Center for State and Local Government as well as the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston. He has also written extensively about the problems in proposed transportation privatization proposals around the country.
Democrat Joe Bolkcom is currently serving in his third term in the Iowa Senate. He was first elected to the Senate in 1998 and re-elected in 2002 and 2006. He previously served for six years (1993-1998) on the Johnson County Board of Supervisors. Joe was elected a Senate Assistant Majority Leader for the 2007 and 2008 legislative sessions. Before becoming a County Supervisor, Joe worked for three years at the county public health department helping address the county’s leading health issues including youth access to tobacco products and environmental health concerns. Prior to that and for nearly a decade, Joe helped found and direct two senior citizen advocacy organizations fighting for lower health care costs for seniors in Iowa and Illinois. He has also been active in state and local environmental protection efforts. Joe graduated from Saint Ambrose University and earned a masters degree in Public Affairs from the University of Iowa.
Patrick Bresette
Associate Program Director, Demos Center for the Public Sector
Patrick comes to Demos after thirteen years as Associate Director of the Center for Public Policy Priorities and before that as a legislative aide in the Texas House of Representatives. His years of work leading the policy team at CPPP, spearheading the organization's legislative initiatives, and leading diverse coalitions of partner organizations situate him well for his outreach and partnership development efforts with this initiative. Patrick has an MPA from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin and a BFA in Sculpture from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University.
Steven Carbo
Senior Program Director, Democracy Program, Demos Center for the Public Sector
Steven Carbo currently serves as a Senior Program Director in the Democracy Program at Dēmos, which supports public policy changes that eliminate barriers to political participation, providing policy makers and activists with applied research, policy analysis and organizing assistance. The Program's current policy agenda includes Election Day Registration and enhanced implementation of the National Voter Registration Act.
Caroline Fan
Immigration & Workers’ Rights Policy Specialist, Progressive States Network
Before joining Progressive States Caroline was part of the leadership team of a progressive communications firm. She has served as an organizer and communicator for groups including the AFL-CIO, SEIU, and the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, as well as grassroots nonprofits like Alternatives for Community & Environment. A proud second-generation American, she has worked to increase civic participation in immigrant communities and deeply values her experience traveling across the country on the Immigrant Worker Freedom Rides. Caroline is a graduate of Williams College, and holds a Masters in Public Administration from Baruch College through the National Urban Fellows, a national leadership program.
Elena Foshay
Research Associate, Apollo Alliance
Elena joined the Apollo Alliance in September 2008. Prior to her work at Apollo, she did research for the Labor Center at the University of California, Berkeley, where she studied measures to ensure that green jobs are quality jobs, and conducted a study in Contra Costa County on green jobs and workforce development opportunities. A portion of her research included understanding smart growth strategies for California’s Central Valley, and she was involved in designing leadership and green jobs training for union leaders. She earned a MSW in social welfare and a M.A. in international and area studies, both from the University of California, Berkeley.
Amy Hanauer
Executive Director, Policy Matters Ohio
Amy Hanauer is the Executive Director of Policy Matters Ohio, a non-profit, non-partisan policy research institute dedicated to examining issues that matter to working families in Ohio. Amy has a Master's of Public Administration from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a BA from Cornell University. She has previously done research and policy work in Wisconsin, Colorado and Washington D.C. For Policy Matters, in addition to running the organization, Amy does research on work, wages, tax policy, energy policy and other issues.
Senator Jack Hatch is serving his second term in the Iowa Senate, representing central Des Moines, which includes some of the highest and lowest income families in the state. Senator Hatch is an Assistant Democratic Leader and chair of the Health & Human Services Budget Subcommittee. He also serves on the Economic Growth, Human Resources, State Government, Labor & Business Relations, and Appropriations committees. In addition to his committee work, Senator Hatch serves on the Developmental Disabilities & Brain Injury Commission, the Iowa Mental Health Planning & Advisory Council, the Medical Assistance Projections Council, and a review committee for the Department of Human Services. Senator Hatch has continually demonstrated his commitment to affordable, quality health care for vulnerable Iowans as he led passage of legislation creating the Community Health Center Incubator Program and the Iowa Collaborative Safety Net Provider Network.
Sen. Karen Keiser
Washington Senate
Senator Karen Keiser represents the 33rd Legislative District in the Washington State Senate, which includes Kent, SeaTac, Normandy Park, Burien and Des Moines. She is Chair of the Senate Health and Long Term Care Committee. She sits on the Financial Institutions Housing & Consumer Protection and the Labor Commerce Research & Development committees as well. She recently retired as the Communications Director for the Washington State Labor Council. Before she was elected to the Senate she served in the Washington House of Representatives.
Greg LeRoy
Executive Director, Good Jobs First
Dubbed "the leading national watchdog of state and local economic development subsidies" and "God's witness to corporate welfare," Greg is a nationally prominent speaker and news media source. He is the author of The Great American Jobs Scam: Corporate Tax Dodging and the Myth of Job Creation (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2005) and No More Candy Store: States and Cities Making Job Subsidies Accountable (1994). He founded Good Jobs First in 1998 and has been writing, training, and consulting on development issues for state and local governments, labor-management committees, unions, community groups, and development associations for more than 20 years.
Beth McConnell
Executive Director, Media and Democracy Coalition
Ms. McConnell joined the Media and Democracy Coalition staff in May 2007, and works to link and provide back-up support to local, state and national organizations around media policy initiatives and efforts focused on increasing access to broadband. Before joining the Coalition, Ms. McConnell was the Director of the Pennsylvania Public Interest Research Group (PennPIRG) from 2002 through 2007, where she led the organization to victories including winning the release of patient safety data from hospitals -- that can potentially save lives, giving consumers tools to protect their personal information from would-be identity thieves, defeating a plan by the IRS that would have allowed the sale of consumers' tax returns, and expanding health care access to tens of thousands of Pennsylvanians. Ms. McConnell began her public interest career in 1993 as a Citizen Outreach Director with the Fund for Public Interest Research, and has extensive experience working with the media, developing strategic campaign plans, training emerging leaders, policy development and analysis, fundraising, crafting effective messages and coalition building.
Mark Murphy
Fiscal Policy Analyst, American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
Mark Murphy is a Fiscal Policy Analyst with AFSCME's national union in Washington, DC. He works on budget analyses of public employers for collective bargaining, serves as a policy analyst on state and local budget and tax matters, and covers classified school employee issues. Mark is part of a team of AFSCME policy staff dealing wtih privatization. Mark received his B.A. in History from the University of California, Santa Cruz and M.P.A. from George Mason University.
Nathan Newman
Policy Director, Progressive States Network
Nathan, a lawyer and Ph.D., has an extensive history of supporting local policy campaigns, from coalition organizing work to drafting legislation. Previous to coming to Progressive States, he was Associate Counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice, Program Director of NetAction's Consumer Choice Campaign, co-director of the UC-Berkeley Center for Community Economic Research, and a labor and employment lawyer. He received his J.D. from Yale Law School and his Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California at Berkeley and has written extensively about public policy and the legal system in a range of academic and popular journals.
Renée Paradis
Counsel, Democracy Program, Brennan Center for Justice
Economist, Communication Workers of America
Ken is an Economist with the Communications Workers of America. In relation to telecommunications, he has helped formulate CWA's telecom policy positions, written Speed Matters: Affordable High Speed Internet for All, represented CWA in proceedings before the Federal Communications Commission and many state public utility commissions, worked on telecom policy and regulatory legislation, and conducted analyses of service quality performance. In addition, he has served as economist for the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, the Montana House Committee on Economic Development and the Montana Alliance for Progressive Policy. Ken has held teaching positions at the University of Montana, St. John's University, Chief Dull Knife College and the City University of New York. He obtained a Ph.D. in economics from the Graduate Faculty of the New School for Social Research in New York City.
Sherry Prowda
Communications Director, Herndon Alliance
Robert Richie
Executive Director, FairVote
Rob Richie is the Executive Director of FairVote, a non-profit organization that researches and advocates election reforms that increase voter turnout, accountable governance and fair representation. An expert on international and domestic electoral systems, Richie has directed the Center since its founding in 1992.
Maria Robalino
Assistant to the Director of Immigration Reform, Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
Maria F. Robalino was born in Quito, Ecuador in 1974 and immigrated to the US in the year 2000. In the US, after working briefly for an SEIU janitors union, Maria found her true calling and started her advocacy work for social and economic justice and immigrant rights. For more than 7 years, Maria has worked for Service Employees International Union (SEIU) which is the fastest-growing union in North America with 2 million members. She served for 3 years at SEIU Local 150, a health care Local in Milwaukee, where she directed the Immigration program. There, her work as a community advocate and her work with women, religious and Latino groups helped strengthen the immigrant coalition in the State. She coordinated the participation of this Local union at the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride and was in charged driving the Dream Act campaign in the Local. In 2004 Maria relocated to Washington DC, where she worked for SEIU Headquarters’ Global department. In this capacity she acted as a liaison between SEIU and counterpart unions in South America, and successfully built and maintained partnerships with unions in this region of the world. Today Maria now holds the position of Assistant to the Director of Immigration Reform in SEIU International. She is responsible for assisting in the development and implementation of the field program with SEIU Locals around the country, promoting legislative change to build power for SEIU’s immigrant members at the State and Federal level, and working with national immigrant rights coalitions made up of multiple sectors including labor, community, religious and business.
Julie Schwartz
Broadband & Economic Development Policy Specialist, Progressive States Network
Julie assists state legislators and organizations in promoting progressive broadband, media reform, and economic development policies. She is a recent graduate from Georgetown University Law Center and is a member of the Pennsylvania bar. Prior to joining the Progressive States Network, Julie worked as a legal fellow for Free Press. Julie's experience includes drafting comments in response to FCC proposed rules, participating in litigation regarding broadcast and broadband issues, and analyzing constitutional issues pertaining to state legislation.
Rep. Kyrsten Sinema
Arizona House of Representatives
Kyrsten Sinema was born in Tucson, Arizona, in 1976 and has lived in Phoenix since 1995. She was first elected to the State Legislature in 2004, and in 2006 was re-elected to continue serving central Phoenix in District 15. Kyrsten holds a juris doctorate and a Master’s degree in Social Work from Arizona State University. Kyrsten is an adjunct professor in the School of Social Work at Arizona State University and practices criminal defense law in the Phoenix community. She also works for the Center for Progressive Leadership, teaching tomorrow’s political leaders about leadership and the political process. Prior to her work at the Legislature, Kyrsten was a social worker in the Washington School District where she created and directed the Sunnyslope community’s first Family Resource Center.
Christian Smith-Socaris
Election Reform Policy Specialist, Progressive States Network
Before coming to Progressive States Christian spent many years supporting the New York Civil Liberties Union's legislative efforts. Serving as an advocate, lobbyist and policy analyst, he focused on a broad range of issues including voting rights, criminal justice reform, civil rights protections as well as privacy rights. Christian was a key participant in the campaign to establish pro-voter implementation of the Help America Vote Act in New York State.
Adam Thompson
Health Care Policy Specialist, Progressive States Network
Adam has several years' experience working for major health care reform at the state level and on political campaigns. Before joining Progressive States, he worked on Maine Governor John Baldacci's Office of Health Policy and Finance on the enactment and implementation of Dirigo Health Reform. Adam previously served as the Executive Director of the Maine Democratic Party.
Lynn Tramonte
Deputy Director, America's Voice
Lynn Tramonte is the Policy Director at America’s Voice. She is the organization’s primary liaison to Capitol Hill and policy groups in Washington, DC. Prior to joining America’s Voice, Lynn worked at the National Immigration Forum for eight years doing legislative and communications work. She is a veteran of numerous legislative battles, including the comprehensive immigration reform debates in 2006 and 2007, and led the nationwide campaign to defeat federal legislation that would turn state and local police into immigration agents and undermine community policing. Lynn is a nationally respected advocate, coalition-builder, and writer. She started her career in immigration as a consultant to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, after graduating with a Bachelor’s degree from Denison University in Granville, Ohio.
Celia Wcislo
Vice President, 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East
Corinne Wilson
Research and Policy Analyst, Center on Policy Initiatives
Corinne Wilson holds graduate degrees in Public Policy from the University of Minnesota Humphrey Institute for Public Affairs and in Sociology from the University of California, San Diego. Her professional experience has focused on affordable housing development and providing business and leadership assistance to cooperatives and nonprofits.
Host Commitee
Sen. Joe Bolkcom
Iowa Senate, District 39
Rep. Garnet Coleman
Texas House of Representatives,
District 147
Steve Doherty
Former Montana Senate Minority Leader
Rep. Rick Glazier
North Carolina House of Representatives, District 45
Del. Tom Hucker
Maryland House of Delegates, District 20
Sen. Karen Keiser
Washington Senate, Distrct 33
Rep. Dave McAlpin
Montana House of Representatives, District 94
Rep. Alisha Morgan
Georgia House of Representatives, District 29
Sen. Nan Orrock
Georgia Senate, District 36
Rep. Kyrsten Sinema
Arizona House of Representatives, District 15
Participating Legislators
Rep. Ed Ableser
Arizona House of Representatives, District 17
Rep. Emily
Cain
Maine House of Representatives,
District 19
Sen. Maggie Carlton
Nevada Senate, Disrict 2
Rep. Maralyn Chase
Washington House of Representatives, District 32
Sen. Tarryl Clark
Minnesota Senate, District 15
Rep. Merika Coleman
Alabama House of Representatives, District 57
Rep. Steve Conway
Washington House of Representatives, District 29
Rep. Steven D'Amico
Massachusetts House of Representatives, District 4
Senator-Elect Joyce Elliott
Arkansas Senate, District 33
Former Sen. Jim Elliott
Montana Senate
Sen. Jon Erpenbach
Wisconsin Senate, District 27
Rep. Mark Falzone
Massachusetts House of Representatives, District 9
Sen. Dede Feldman
New Mexico Senate, District 13
Del. Barbara Fleischauer
West Virginia House of Delegates, District 44
Rep. Delia Garcia
Kansas House of Representatives, District 103
Andrew Gillum
Commissioner, Tallahassee City Commission; National Director, Young Elected Officials Network
Del. Ana Sol Gutierrez
Maryland House of Delegates, District 18
Rep. Arthur Handy
Rhode Island House of Representatives, District 18
Sen. Dave Hansen
Wisconsin Senate, District 30
Rep. Bob Hasegawa
Washington House of Representatives, District 11
Sen. Jack Hatch
Iowa Senate, District 33
Rep. Naida Kaen
New Hampshire House of Representatives, District 7
Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles
Washington Senate, District 36
Del. Charlene Marshall
West Virginia House of Delegates, District 44
Rep. David McCluskey
Assistant Majority Whip, Connecticut House of Representatives, District 20
Sen. Cisco McSorley
New Mexico Senate, District 16
Del. Heather Mizeur
Maryland House of Delegates, District 20
Rep. Tyler Olson
Iowa House of Representatives, District 38
Rep. Tony Payton
Pennsylvania House of Representatives, District 179
Rep. Michele Reinhart
Montana House of Representatives, District 97
Rep. Amy Rice
Rhode Island House of Representatives, District 72
Sen. Eric Schneiderman
New York Senate, District 31
Rep. Carl Sciortino
Massachusetts House of Representatives, District 34
Rep. Mark Smith
Iowa House of Representatives, District 43
Rep. Jefferson Smith
Oregon House of Representatives, District 47
Sen. Jeff Smith
Missouri Senate, District 4
Sen. Carol Williams
Montana Senate, Disrict 46
Participating Organizations
America's Voice
American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees
Apollo Alliance
Brennan Center for Justice
Center for Economic and Policy Research
Center on Policy Initiatives
Communication Workers of America
Demos
Drum Major Institute for Public Policy
Economic Policy Institute
FairVote
Free Press
Good Jobs First
Herndon Alliance
Media and Democracy Coalition
New Mexico Voices for Children
National Popular Vote, Inc.
Policy Matters Ohio
Service Employees International Union
Steel Valley Authority
UNITE HERE (Culinary Workers Union, Local 226)
U.S. PIRG
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