Just one week before the start of the 2015 Legislative session, the Washington Policy Center, an independent non-profit think tank with offices in Seattle, the Tri-Cities, Spokane and Olympia, will hold its 2nd statewide Solutions Summit this week in the Tri-Cities and Bellevue.
Officials say the conference is timed for maximum impact just one week before the start of one of the most important legislative sessions in state history.
The half-day policy conference for Western Washington will be held from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 7 at the Hyatt Regency in Bellevue and will feature a keynote luncheon with former New York Gov. George Pataki.
Numerous organizations have teamed up with Washington Policy Center to put on the events that will be attended by over 450 people.
The conference will begin with an opening breakfast featuring Avik Roy, Forbes opinion editor and former health care adviser to Mitt Romney. Sessions with over 15 national and local policy experts will then be held throughout the morning on education, environment, state budget & taxes, health care, minimum wage and transportation issues. Featured speakers and panelists in Bellevue will include:
- Howard Behar, former COO of Starbucks
- Hon. Rob McKenna, former Washington State Attorney General
- State Sen. Andy Hill, chair, Senate Ways & Means Committee
- State Sen. Curtis King, chair, Senate Transportation Committee
- State Sen. Doug Ericksen, chair, Senate Energy, Environment & Telecommunications Committee
- State Rep. Reuven Carlyle, chair, House Finance Committee
- John Charles, president/CEO, Cascade Policy Institute
- Marc Scribner, fellow, Competitive Enterprise Institute
- Michael Saltsman, Employment Policies Institute
- Taylor Hoang, owner, Pho Cyclo, Seattle
The event will then conclude with a keynote lunch featuring Pataki, who served three terms as governor of New York, from 1995 through 2006. After the 9/11 attacks, he promoted the toughest anti-terrorism laws in the country.
