SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES
Barry M. Aarons
Research fellow at the Institute for Policy Innovation and owner of The Aarons Company, a public policy consulting firm with a diverse range of functions and clients, including a portfolio of corporate and trade association clients for whom he lobbies and provides other public policy services before the Arizona state legislature, other states, and the U.S. Congress. Aarons is an acknowledged leader in taxation, telecommunications, administration, public policy advocacy, public relations, and education. He also serves as senior fellow for Americans for Tax Reform and adjunct professor in Arizona State University’s Political Science Department. His resume includes 20 years as director of government relations and public policy for US West Communications.
Debra Aron
Director at the Law & Economic Consulting Group and an adjunct associate professor at Northwestern University with a focus on the communications industry. She has served as an expert witness regarding the development of competition in local telecommunications markets, the development of competition and investment in broadband markets, the pricing of local telephone service, interconnection, determination of forward-looking costs under the Telecommunications Act of 1996, limitations of liability, and Universal Service. Her research also includes competition in communications markets such as wireless telephony and the pay television industry. Aron holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago and is a former national fellow of the Hoover Institution and faculty research fellow of the National Bureau of Economic Research.
Sonia Arrison
Director of technology studies at the California-based Pacific Research Institute (PRI), where she researches and writes on the intersection of new technologies and public policy. She is a regular columnist for Tech Central Station and Tech News World and is author of several major PRI studies, including "Being Served: Broadband Competition in the Small and Medium Sized Business Market" and "Canning Spam: An Economic Solution to Unwanted Email." Prior to joining PRI, Arrison focused on Canadian-U.S. regulatory, political, and privatization issues at the Donner Canadian Foundation and Fraser Institute.
Joseph L. Bast
President and CEO of The Heartland Institute, a national, independent, nonprofit research center founded in 1984 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. He is coauthor of eight books and numerous policy studies on telecommunications, school reform, health care reform, economic development, and environmentalism. His most recent Heartland Policy Study, released in October 2004, addresses municipal ownership of broadband networks. He is publisher of four monthly newspapers and several newsletters, including Info Tech & Telecom News (IT&T News).
Deborah Bierbaum
Director of external tax policy for AT&T, where she is responsible for state and local tax policy issues, primarily in the Eastern region, and for multi-state tax policy issues at the national level. She currently co-chairs the Council on State Taxation’s subcommittee on telecommunications and is co-editor of Telecommunications: Taxation of Services, Property, and Providers. Before joining AT&T, she was deputy commissioner for tax policy analysis at the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. She holds a Master’s of Science degree in taxation from Pace University and a Bachelor’s of Science degree in business administration and accounting from Clarion University.
Robert T. Blau
Vice president of public policy development for BellSouth Corporation, where he is responsible for representing BellSouth’s positions and interests before key federal officials and other interest groups involved in setting national telecommunications policy. Prior to joining BellSouth, Blau held similar positions with Bell Communications Research, Satellite Television Corporation, Communications Satellite Corporation, and the Federal Communications Commission. He holds a Ph.D. in telecommunications and economics from Indiana University.
Dave Buhler
Is serving his second term as a member of the Salt Lake City Council, the legislative branch of Salt Lake City’s government. His previous public service includes a term as a Utah State Senator (1995-1999) and as executive director of the Utah Department of Commerce (1989-1992). He is an associate commissioner of higher education for the State of Utah and has taught as adjunct instructor for the Department of Political Science at the University of Utah since 1990. He received his Master’s degree in public administration from Brigham Young University in 1985.
Annabelle C. Canning
Assistant general counsel for tax policy at Verizon Wireless, where she is responsible for the company’s federal and state legislative tax reform initiatives. Prior to joining Verizon, she was legislative counsel at the Council On State Taxation (COST), where her responsibilities included general oversight of legislative matters and managing certain COST member coalitions, including COST’s Telecommunications Tax Task Force. She has testified regarding state and local taxation of the telecommunications industry before the National Conference of State Legislatures, American Legislative Exchange Council, and various state legislative tax committees. She received her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center and is a member of the California and Maryland bar associations.
Paul Garnett
Paul Garnett is director, regulatory policy for the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association, where he is responsible for coordinating regulatory issues for the association affecting the mobile wireless industry. These issues include universal service, intercarrier compensation, local competition, consumer issues, and spectrum matters. Prior to joining CTIA, Garnett served as legal counsel to the Wireline Competition Bureau Chief and as acting assistant chief and attorney-advisor in the Telecommunications Access Policy Division. Garnett received his J.D. cum laude from the Catholic University of America and his B.A. from Union College.
James L. Gattuso
James L. Gattuso is the research fellow in regulatory policy at the Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies of The Heritage Foundation, where he handles regulatory and telecommunications issues. Prior to joining Heritage, he was Vice President for Policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, where he oversaw CEI’s policy work and supervised the overall management of the organization. He is a member of the California and District of Columbia bars, and is the author of a number of articles written for newspapers, magazines, and journals. He received his J.D. degree from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1983.
Raymond L. Gifford
President of The Progress & Freedom Foundation and a member of its board. Prior to joining the foundation in 2003, he served as chairman of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission for four years, following his appointment by Governor Bill Owens. Before joining the commission, he served under then-Colorado Attorney General Gale Norton as first assistant general for regulatory law. From 1993 to 1996, Gifford worked for two national law firms—Kirkland & Ellis and Baker & Hostetler. He earned his law degree from the University of Chicago.
Edward C. Hurley
Chairman of the Illinois Commerce Commission and serves on a number of boards and committees. Most recently, he was tapped to serve on the board of advisors for New Mexico State University. In 2003, he became a member of The National Regulatory Research Institute’s board of directors. He also serves on the board of directors of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) and is a member of its Committee on Telecommunications. From 1991 to 1998, he served as secretary, general counsel, and general manager for Custom Coffee Service Corporation. He received a Bachelor’s of Science in business administration from Marquette University and a Juris Doctor from the John Marshall Law School.
Scott Jensen
Elected to the Wisconsin Assembly in a special election in January 1992. After only five years in office, Jensen was elected speaker of the Assembly. In 1999, his stubborn fight for more than $1 billion in tax cuts in the state budget won him the national "Friend of the Taxpayer" award from Americans for Tax Reform This legislative session, Jensen stepped aside as speaker and tackled what he believes are the two most important issues for strengthening Wisconsin's economy: educating a top-notch workforce and developing a state-of-the-art infrastructure for the state. Jensen is a magna cum laude graduate of Drake University and earned his Master's degree in public policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Theodore J. Kanavas
First elected to the Wisconsin State Senate in 2001. In 2002, he was instrumental in establishing the Joint Legislative Council Committee on Public and Private Broadband, and he currently serves on the Joint Committee on Finance, Senate Transportation and Information Infrastructure Committee, and Senate Health, Children, Families, Aging, and Long Term Care Committee. He is also co-chair of the Senate Select Committee on Job Creation. Prior to his election to the Senate, he spent 12 years in the software industry, and he continues to work in the field as a senior enterprise executive with a Brookfield-based company. He received his B.A. in political science from the University of Wisconsin in 1983.
Diane S. Katz
Director of science, environment, and technology policy with the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Prior to joining the center, she served for nine years as a member of The Detroit News editorial board, specializing in science and environment, telecommunications and technology, and the auto industry. Her work has won numerous awards, including top honors from the Michigan Press Association in 1994, 1996, 1997, and 1998.
Barry P. Keating
Jesse H. Jones Professor of Finance at the University of Notre Dame. His expertise includes economic regulation and government policy, business forecasting, experimental economics, and not-for-profit organizations. He has authored numerous publications, including "Regulation and Antitrust Economics," "Policy Guidelines for Providing Telecommunications Access in Developing Economies," and "Economic Dimensions of Telecommunications Access," and he often speaks at conferences and symposiums across the country. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame.
Scott Mackey
An associate at Kimbell Sherman Ellis (KSE), where he helps clients design and implement successful strategies in state capitols. He is an economist who combines practical experience, strong relationships with state legislators from across the country, and a solid policy background to run effective multi-state government relations campaigns. He helped the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) and key legislators gain a national Internet sales tax debate by creating a legislative task force, building consensus among a diverse group of legislators, and managing media and private-sector relationships. Before joining KSE, Mackey was NCSL’s chief economist, where he spent 10 years working with legislative leaders on such critical state issues as the taxation of electronic commerce and telecommunications tax reform.
Paul Mancini
Senior vice president and assistant general counsel for SBC Telecommunications, Inc. Mancini is the legal officer responsible for SBC antitrust, federal and state regulatory relations, long-distance approvals, Triennial Review Proceedings in SBC’s 13 states, FCC/state merger compliance, and public relations. He joined SBC in October 1999. Prior to joining SBC, Mancini was an attorney at the law firm of Crowell and Moring in Washington, DC. He also previously served as deputy director for the Office of Evaluation, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; presidential executive exchange fellow at Xerox Corporation; division director and senior research analyst for HUD; and as a teaching and research fellow at the University of Pittsburgh.
Phil Montgomery
State Representative, 4th Assembly District in Wisconsin. He is a member of the Green Bay Area Drug Alliance, Leadership Green Bay Alumni, Ashwaubenon Optimist Club, and Waterfront Study Commission. A former systems engineer, he was first elected to the assembly in 1998. He received a Bachelor’s of Science degree in business and commerce from the University of Houston.
Gov. Bill Owens
Called “the best governor in America” by National Review magazine, Bill Owens was sworn in as Colorado’s 40th Governor in January 1999. He was re-elected in 2002 with the greatest majority in Colorado history, earning a broad mandate for his innovative leadership on issues like telecom reform. He served in the State House and Senate and as Colorado Treasurer. He authored landmark legislation creating charter schools, toughening prison sentences, modernizing child abuse statutes, and reforming the tort system. He is a leading advocate of the Colorado Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights (TABOR), which caps government spending and requires that excess funds be returned to state taxpayers. Owens, who holds a Master’s degree in public administration from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, worked for 20 years in the private sector with the consulting staff of Deloitte and Touche, with the Gates Corporation, and as director of a trade association. He is an expert on Soviet affairs and writes and lectures often on Russia.
Sean Parnell
Vice president of external affairs for The Heartland Institute. His responsibilities include corporate relations, fundraising, and writing on public policy. He has written on telecommunications and tax policy as well as health care. Prior to joining Heartland he worked for several years on state legislative, congressional, and presidential campaigns. Parnell has a B.A. in economics from Drake University.
Steven J. Rauschenberger
State Senator, 22nd Senate District in Illinois. He was first elected to the senate in 1993 and was appointed to the State Republican leadership team in 2003 as Assistant Republican Leader. He served as chief budget negotiator for the Senate Republicans, negotiating multi-billion-dollar state budgets that have provided millions of dollars for schools, vital state programs, and local road and infrastructure improvements without a tax increase. He chairs the Committee on Appropriations and also serves as a member of the Committees on Environment & Energy, Illinois Growth Task Force, and Public Health & Welfare. He received a B.B.A. in accounting at the College of William and Mary.
Ron Rizzuto
Professor of finance in the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver. Rizzuto has extensive consulting experience in cable telecommunications in evaluating the financial viability of new technologies (video, voice, and data) and on the economics of telecommunications overbuilds. Rizzuto holds a B.S. in finance from the University of Colorado and an M.B.A. and Ph.D. in finance and economics from New York University.
John Rutledge
Chairman of Rutledge Capital, an economic advisory firm, and acts as an advisor to the Bush White House on the dividend tax cut and rebuilding Iraq, among other issues. As a lecturer, he speaks on global economics, financial markets, investment strategies, the impact of technology on the economy, and strategies for owning and growing the value of business. He is author of a regular column in the American Spectator on the intersection of ideas from science and economics and has written the "Business Strategy" column in Forbes for more than a decade. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia.
Steven Titch
Managing editor of Info Tech & Telecom News (IT&T News) is recognized internationally as a top telecommunications journalist and analyst. He currently works as a private consultant and has done strategic market and technology research, analysis, and advocacy. His articles have appeared in Total Telecom, America’s Network, and Telephony. Prior to launching his consulting business in 1999, Titch was director of editorial projects for Data Communications magazine, where he directed content development for supplemental publications and projects. He has also held the positions of editorial director of Telephony, editor of Global Telephony magazine, Midwest bureau chief of Communications Week, and founding editor of Cellular Business (now Wireless Review). Titch graduated cum laude from Syracuse University with a dual degree in journalism and English.
Joe Waz
As vice president of external affairs and public policy counsel for Comcast Corporation, Waz has primary responsibility for the company’s public policy activities; oversees the company’s political action committees; and works closely with the company’s federal government affairs, law, state and local government relations, and public relations professionals. He serves as president of the Comcast Foundation and executive director of the Comcast Corporation Political Action Committee and COMPAC_USA. Before joining Comcast in 1994, Joe spent 11 years at The Wexler Group, a government relations and public affairs consulting firm in Washington, DC. He began his Washington career with Ralph Nader’s Telecommunications Research and Action Center in 1979. Waz holds a bachelor’s degree from Boston University and a doctor of laws from the University of Connecticut School of Law. He is the author Reverse the Charges and author or editor of numerous articles and journals on communications policy topics.