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Speaker Bios
Speakers for
Taxing and Spending Limits in Wisconsin
A conference sponsored by the Robert M. La Follette School of Public Affairs to consider alternative ways to limit public spending in Wisconsin and the consequences of doing so
Monona Terrace,
Madison, Wisconsin
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Conference information
Agenda
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PDF of agenda
- Audra Brennan
- Audra Brennan is the administrator of the Wisconsin Department of Revenue's Research and Policy
Division, which provides policy analysis, economic forecasts and
revenue estimates for the department. Prior to joining Revenue,
Brennan served as a legislative and fiscal policy manager for
the city of Milwaukee, and earlier was the chief lobbyist and
policy adviser for Milwaukee Public Schools. Brennan has also
worked for the Congressional Budget Office and Andersen
Consulting.
Who Pays Taxes in Wisconsin? presentation slides
Wisconsin Tax Incidence Study, Dec. 16, 2004 - Todd Berry
- Since 1994, Todd Berry has been president of the Wisconsin Taxpayers
Alliance, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization
dedicated to policy research and citizen education. From 1983 to
1993, he was a marketing executive. In the late 1970s and early
1980s, Berry was assistant secretary of the Wisconsin Department
of Revenue and executive director of the Governor's Tax Reform
Commission. A member of the North Central College (Ill.) Board
of Trustees, he served on the Dane County Board, the Jefferson
School Board and the Cooperative Educational Service Agency #2
Board of Control.
Data used in analyses - Maria Cancian
- An expert in domestic social policy, Maria Cancian is professor of social work and public affairs and director of the Institute for Research on Poverty at UW-Madison. Her recent research considers the impact of married women's growing employment and earnings on marriage patterns and distribution of household income, the work and income of women who have received welfare, and the implications of child support and custody for the well-being of divorced and never-married families.
- Rick Chandler
- Rick Chandler
is president of Chandler Consulting, LLC, a public policy and
government relations consulting firm.
Chandler
specializes in policy development and research, with an emphasis
on state budgets, taxes, economic development and state-local
relations. Chandler served as secretary of the Wisconsin
Department of Revenue from 2001 to 2003 and was Wisconsin state
budget director from 1987 to 2001. He has also practiced law and
served as a legislative assistant to members of the Wisconsin
Assembly and U.S. House of Representatives.
Limiting Government Spending in Wisconsin - Thomas Hefty
- Before joining the law firm Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren, Thomas
Hefty was chair and chief executive officer of Cobalt Corp., and
its subsidiary, Blue Cross and Blue Shield United of Wisconsin.
He is an adjunct faculty member in business and economics at
Ripon College. Hefty serves on the boards of Artisan Funds and
the Wisconsin Technology Council. He chaired Gov. Tommy
Thompson’s Commission on Long-Term Care Insurance, and served on
the SAVE Commission that examined value and efficiency in
government.
Wisconsin Taxation and Spending: Medicaid and Federal Spending presentation slides - James R. Knickman
- As vice
president for research and evaluation, James R. Knickman
oversees external evaluations of national initiatives the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation supports. He is a leader in shaping RWJF-funded research initiatives. Knickman works with the
foundation's grant-making activities; co-edits its Annual
Anthology, oversees performance management; and provides
leadership for the foundation's web-based research center. Prior
to joining RWJF in 1992, Knickman was on the faculty at New York
University, where he directed its health research program and
researched health-care delivery.
The Growth in Health Care Costs presentation slides - Iris J. Lav
- Iris Lav is
deputy director of the Center on
Budget and Policy Priorities,
which conducts research and analysis to inform public debates
about proposed budget and tax policies and to help ensure that
those debates consider the needs of low-income families and
individuals. Lav focuses on the center's state-level work, and
on federal and state tax policy. She founded the center's State
Fiscal Project and helped create the State Fiscal Analysis
Initiative, a network of organizations working on state budget
and tax issues.
Rainy Day Funds and TABOR presentation slides - Donald Nichols
- Donald Nichols is director of the La Follette School of Public Affairs, and a
professor of economics and public affairs. His research is on
macroeconomic theory and policy and regional economic policy. He
served on the staffs of the Council of Economic Advisers, on the
U.S. Senate Budget Committee, as deputy assistant secretary of
the U.S. Department of Labor, and as economic advisor to the
governor of Wisconsin. He serves on the board of Thompson Plumb
Mutual Funds.
Wisconsin Taxes in Perspective presentation slides
Property Tax Freeze / Deferral Proposal presentation slides (revised)
The Middle Way to Property Tax Reform essay
Let Homeowners Defer Property Taxes, Wisconsin State Journal, Jan. 16, 2005
Data used in analyses - William A. Niskanen
- William Niskanen has been chair of the Cato Institute, a libertarian
research center, since 1985. He served as acting chair of
President Reagan's Council of Economic Advisers. Niskanen is an
expert in public policy areas that include defense, education,
health care, taxes, trade and regulation. Niskanen has taught
economics at the University of California at Berkeley and Los
Angeles. He also has worked with the Ford Motor Co., the
Pentagon, the RAND Corp. and the Institute for Defense Analyses.
Constitutional Limits to State and Local Spending - Andrew Reschovsky
- A La Follette School professor of applied economics and public affairs, Andrew
Reschovsky is an expert on state and local government public
finance. His current research projects include an examination of
the costs of meeting the requirements of No Child Left Behind,
and an international project on the fiscal problems of central
cities. Reschovsky has worked for the U.S. Treasury; and has
advised the Organization of Economic Cooperation and
Development, and the government of South Africa.
Consequences of Constitutional Revenue and Spending Limits presentation slides
Data used in analyses - Karl Scholz
- A professor with UW-Madison's Department of Economics, Karl Scholz is carrying out research on tax policy and the working poor, design and effectiveness of public policies to promote household savings, and credit markets.
- Terry Shelton
- As outreach director, Terry Shelton is the La Follette School's staff person most responsible for promoting the Wisconsin Idea, the concept promulgated by Robert La Follette and others at the turn of the 20th century that the boundaries of the university are the boundaries of the state, nation and world. Terry came to La Follette in 1993 after five years as city editor of the Wisconsin State Journal. Terry combines his journalism background with his graduate education in public policy to support the school's efforts to establish links with policymakers at all levels of government.
- William Testa
- William Testa
is vice president and director of regional programs in the
research department at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Testa has written widely about economic development programs,
the Midwest economy and state-local public finance. He directed
a long-term study and forecast of the Midwest economy, and has
organized conferences on school reform. Testa works with
professional journals, nonprofit organizations and economic
development initiatives in the Midwest. Testa and his co-workers
are analyzing the prospects for manufacturing in the Midwest.
What Do We Know About Taxes and Economic Development? presentation slides - David Weimer
- A La Follette School professor of political science and public affairs, David Weimer researches policy craft, institutional design and health policy. He is working on two research projects in the area of health policy: an examination of the organ procurement system as a form of private regulation and an analysis of sources of racial disparities in access to quality cardiac surgery. Other work addresses corrections, energy security, natural resource policy, education, and research methods.
Sponsored by the
Robert M. La Follette School of Public Affairs
at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
Information and registration: shelton@lafollette.wisc.edu.