NCAF Legislative Conference Begins!

The National Community Action Foundation 2008 Legislative Conference kicks off this week at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill. During the conference, congressional members and national experts will address poverty in America. In attendance will be about 600 Community Action professionals, who provide local, coordinated services in 99 percent of the nation's counties and are helping more than 15 million low-income Americans achieve self-sufficiency.

We have a pretty good line-up. We have the chairs of both Labor-HHS appropriations committees speaking to us. They speak often at our conference. On the other hand, any group in Washington would love to have the two appropriators speaking at their conference!

We have a few other members of Congress attending who may not be well-known names within the Community Action Network, but who are all important to our long-term strategy.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of President Lyndon B. Johnson, so a portion of the conference will be dedicated to his presidency, in particular his "War on Poverty."

Conference highlights follow:

Wednesday, March 5
10:30 a.m. - 12 p.m.: Ronald Brownstein, political director Atlantic Media Company
1:30 - 2:30 p.m.: Remembering LBJ - Michael Beschloss, presidential historian and author
2:30 - 3:30 p.m.: Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity Panel - Andrea Silbert, president, EOS Foundation, and Jodie Levin-Epstein, deputy director, Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP)
3:30 - 4:30 p.m.: Dr. William Spriggs, professor and chair of the Howard University Economics Department
4:30-6 p.m.: Legislative Update - David Bradley, National Community Action Foundation Executive Director

Thursday, March 6
7:45 a.m.: U.S. Rep. David Obey (D-WI)
8:30 - 9:15 a.m.: U.S. Rep. Hilda Solis (D-CA)
9:30 - 10:15 a.m.: U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA)
10:15 - 11 a.m.: Remembering LBJ -- Ambassador Lloyd N. Hand

Friday, March 7
8:45 -9:30 a.m.: U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA)

My pre-conference workshop begins here in about an hour. Today I lead a workshop on how the legislative and appropriations process works. This workshop is a primer for anyone who wants to learn more about Congress and advocacy. Through an interactive activity I have designed, this workshop explains how a bill becomes a law and how the budget and appropriations processes work. The session explores the role of the White House, key federal agencies and the Congress in enacting legislation governing our nation. Many of the basic questions, often asked by Community Action staff, are discussed.

Hope to see many of our blog readers at the conference! If you are unable to attend, please visit this blog throughout the week for speaker highlights.

--David Bradley, NCAF Executive Director, Washington