The Political Life

Today, we are rebroadcasting a recent MultiState virtual client event hosted by Maggie Mick on the budget reconciliation bill which contains President Trump's domestic policy agenda currently moving in the U.S. Senate. In May, the House narrowly passed the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" — which would cut taxes, increase border and military spending, and notably scale back Medicaid, among other provisions. Maggie alongside two of her ...

On today's episode, Maggie Mick hosts Fred Zeytoonjian, President of the State Government Affairs Council. This year, SGAC celebrates its 50th anniversary. Fred shares an 101 on SGAC and how the organization is marking this milestone year with a national campaign to celebrate the state government affairs profession and raising funds for Faces of Voices of Recovery. He also talks about his favorite new spot - Bowdie's Chophouse in L...

Machalagh Carr is a trusted and discreet counselor with decades of private sector and government experience. She has nimbly navigated the intersection of congressional investigations and oversight, law, geopolitics, international anticorruption measures, and policy, and served as the top staffer in Article I as Chief of Staff to Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy.  She is the Founder & CEO of Quell strategies, a boutique consultin...

Jordan Rodell is a seasoned public policy professional specializing in technology and free speech advocacy. She currently serves as Public Policy Manager at X (formerly Twitter), where she leads legislative and executive engagement efforts across the U.S. Prior to this, she was the State Policy Manager at the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), advancing policy on content moderation, privacy, digital taxation, an...

During The Political Life podcast's legislative session recess, we bring you another rebroadcast of a recent MultiState virtual event. To gain insights on trends and a better understanding of the state of play with attorneys general, MultiState's Maggie Mick and Kelley Drye & Warren's Paul Singer, AG Practice Chair, hosted a conversation on March 25, 2025. For many states, March marks the halfway point for legislative session and a...

Meet Jacque Robinson-Baisley, currently the Director of External Affairs for Cordoba Corp. in their Education and Facilities Sector.  Jacque also served as Vice Mayor and Councilmember for the City of Pasadena – that was recently devastated by the wildfires.

Jacque is a tenured leader with over two decades of experience in st...

For this week's episode, we are rebroadcasting a webinar hosted by Maggie Mick and Brock Ingmire and features new National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL), Will Melofchik. Will was installed as CEO on January 1. He was formerly NCOIL's General Counsel. Previously, Will was a Regulatory Officer in the Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Unit at the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance and worked in private pract...

Rep. Brian S. Evans serves as Speaker of the House for the 95th General Assembly.

He is serving his fourth term in the Arkansas House. He represents District 68 which includes the city of Cabot, as well as portions of Lonoke County.

For the 94th General Assembly, he served as Chair of the House Education Committee. 

Speaker Evans is in logistics whe...

David Avella is the Chairman of GOPAC, the Republican Party's premier organization dedicated to educating and electing Republican leaders. The GOPAC network invested nearly $33 million in the 2023-2024 election cycle. A seasoned communications professional and political leader, Avella has spent his career working to advance free enterprise, job creation and opportunity. He is a requested speaker on current nati...

Mathew Lapinski is CEO of Crossroads Strategies, LLC. Mat represents a broad spectrum of clients across multiple practice areas. With two decades of advocacy experience, he is an expert in navigating Washington’s federal legislative and regulatory institutions.

Beginning as a lobbyist for health care and insurance interests, Mat now covers a broad array of policy disciplines including finan...

Bill Kramer has been with MultiState since 2011. Recognized for his wide breadth of state legislative and policy knowledge, Bill oversees the firm's research services, advises clients on strategic government affairs initiatives, develops and manages coalitions and associations, and pens the weekly Morning MultiState newsletter, among other problem-solving endeavors.

At the onset of the 2020...

Leigh Walton is Vice President of Global Government and Regulatory Affairs for Pitney Bowes. As Vice President of the Global Government and Regulatory Affairs team, Leigh leads the company’s work in influencing public policy to increase opportunities for its shipping, mailing, and financial services businesses as well as to mitigate risks to those businesses. Before joining Pitney Bowes, Leigh was a consultant ...

Sarah Schlemeier Henke attended the University of Missouri from 2010-2014, where she graduated Cum Laude with her Bachelor of Health Sciences and minors in Psychology and Service Learning. After working in the nonprofit sector in grant-funded positions, Sarah was hired by a lobbying firm before transitioning to the Gamble & Schlemeier team. Seeing a need in advocacy, Sarah started her own company, Advocacy360. Advocacy360 helps wit...