Hot Issues
2007 Budget Forum
March 3, 2006
Biographical Sketches of Speakers
Robert Bixby is executive director of The Concord Coalition, a nonpartisan, grassroots organization that advocates fiscal responsibility. The group is co-chaired by former U.S. Senators Warren Rudman (R-NH) and Bob Kerrey (D-NE). Mr. Bixby has been with The Concord Coalition since its inception in 1992, serving as national field director and policy director before becoming executive director in 1999. He helped to design Concord’s popular “DebtBusters” exercise in which people work together in small groups to devise their own plan for balancing the federal budget and he was involved in planning a series of national bipartisan forums on Social Security reform co-sponsored by The Concord Coalition and AARP in 1998. This work included preparation of “Saving Social Security: A Framework for Reform,” which was published by The Concord Coalition in conjunction with the bipartisan forums. He frequently represents Concord’s views on budget and entitlement reform policy at congressional hearings and in the national media. Mr. Bixby has a bachelor’s degree in political science from American University, a juris doctorate from George Mason University School of Law, and a master’s degree in public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Saul Ramirez is executive director of the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO). Mr. Ramirez came to NAHRO from Greystone and Co., a leading financial services and trading company located in New York City that provides debt and equity financing for the development, rehabilitation, acquisition and refinancing of multi-family and economic development projects. His primary duty at the Bethesda, MD office was as a mortgage banker. Mr. Ramirez served as HUD’s Deputy Secretary from 1998 to January 2001. He also served as HUD’s Assistant Secretary of Community Planning and Development from 1997-1998. Prior to his tenure at HUD, he was Mayor of the City of Laredo from 1990-1997. He used housing and community development programs as tools to encourage the major growth and development of Laredo. He was also a city council member in Laredo from 1982-90. Mr. Ramirez has 20 years experience as an insurance industry executive in Texas and served as a Board member of the Texas Municipal League Inter-government Risk Pool with, over $300 million in assets.
Nan Roman is president and CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, a leading national voice on the issue of homelessness. The Alliance is a public education, advocacy and capacity-building organization with over 5,000 nonprofit and public sector member agencies and corporate partners around the country. Under her leadership, the Alliance has developed a pragmatic plan to end homelessness within 10 years. To implement this plan, Ms. Roman works closely with members of Congress and the Administration, as well as with cities and states across the nation. She collaborates with Alliance members to educate the public about the real nature of homelessness and successful solutions. She has researched and written on the issue, is frequently interviewed by the press, and regularly speaks at events around the country. Her unique perspective on homelessness and its solutions comes from over 25 years of local and national experience in the areas of poverty and community-based organizations. Ms. Roman received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Illinois. She sits on numerous boards and advisory committees, including NHC’s Board of Governors.
Barbara Sard has been the director of housing policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities since 1997. Ms. Sard's work focuses on low-income housing policy, particularly the housing voucher program and admission to subsidized housing. She is frequently cited in media outlets, including the Washington Post, New York Times, NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and the Associated Press. Prior to working at the Center, Ms. Sard was the senior managing attorney of the Housing Unit at Greater Boston Legal Services, where she worked for more than 19 years. She has written extensively on welfare, homelessness and housing issues, and is considered a leading expert on tenant-based rental assistance and issues concerning admissions to subsidized housing programs. Ms. Sard has a B.A. in social studies from Radcliffe College/Harvard University and a J.D. from the Harvard Law School.
Max B. Sawicky is institute economist at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. He has worked in the Office of State and Local Finance of the U.S. Treasury Department and the U.S. Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations. He has studied and written about the economics of public finance, with an emphasis on the Federal budget, tax policy, the U.S. federal system, state and local finance, privatization, and welfare reform. His reports for the Economic Policy Institute include: "The Roots of the Public Sector Fiscal Crisis," "The Poverty of the New Paradigm," and "Up From Deficit Reduction." He is a co-author of Risky Business: Private Management of Public Schools, and he is the editor of The End of Welfare? Consequences of Federal Devolution for the Nation (M.E. Sharpe, 2000) and Bridging the Tax Gap: Addressing the Crisis in Federal Tax Administration (EPI, 2005). He has been a contributor to Tax Notes, Working USA, Challenge, The American Prospect, Dissent, New Economy, Social Policy, In These Times, Social Forces, Newsday, USA Today, the Newark Star-Ledger, the Houston Chronicle, the Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times, and many other newspapers. He serves on the National Executive Board of Americans for Democratic Action and the Editorial Advisory Board of Working USA. He received an M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from the University of Maryland/College Park.
Marcia Sigal is the director of community and economic development for the Council of State Community Development Agencies. Marcia has several years of experience in program development and policy analysis in the fields of community development, affordable housing, economic development, finance, and program management. For the past two years, she was the manager of an innovative collaborative initiative between OMB, HUD and CDBG grantee organizations which developed outcome measures for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. Marcia has been a strong advocate for community development in Washington and helped shaped major legislative and regulatory initiatives in the community development field. Prior to joining COSCDA, Ms. Sigal was a housing and community development officer for the NAHRO, and was successful in getting significant housing legislation passed, such as the National Affordable Housing Act, “Mark to Market” and the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act. Before coming to work at the national level, she held various posts in local community development and affordable housing organizations, including the Boston, MA Redevelopment Authority and the Fairfax County, VA Department of Housing and Community Development, where she co- authored part of the county’s Comprehensive Land-Use Plan, which won an award of excellence from the American Planning Association. Ms. Sigal holds a master’s degree in planning and studied social work and human development as an undergraduate.
