Progressive States Network
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
that aims to transform the political landscape by sparking progressive actions
Activism
Activism consists of intentional efforts to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing...
at the state level. It was previously known as PLAN (Progressive Legislative Action Network).
History and Structure
Founded in 2005, the group provides coordinated research and strategic advocacy tools to state legislators and their staffs, empowering these decision-makers with everything they need to engineer forward-thinking change. Progressive States also works with non-profits and a variety of constituent groups to build a swath of support for coordinated progressive policy. The overarching goals: to get good policy passed into law and change the way issues are debated in the states.A significant part of Progressive States efforts revolve around supporting state legislative campaigns. The organization offers legislators and their staff members with the technical and messaging support necessary to embrace progressive policy and draft legislation around it. Tapping into a network of experts in each state, the group catalogues existing or developing legislation related to six key values we support. Progressive States also accumulates research to support new laws in these areas and drafts sample bills that will be palatable to a majority of voters in every district. During the current legislative session, their most important values include:
- Rewarding work
- Helping families
- Strengthening communities
- Growing the economy
- Increasing democracy
Progressive States seeks to strengthen communication between legislators and the organizations they serve, facilitating a groundswell of interest in progressive policy that spans state, regional and ideological lines. Our board consists of labor organizations, grassroots and “netroots
Netroots
Netroots is a term coined in 2002 by Jerome Armstrong to describe political activism organized through blogs and other online media, including wikis and social network services. The word is a portmanteau of Internet and grassroots, reflecting the technological innovations that set netroots...
” groups, and key policy centers. With additional support from these organizations, Progressive States makes it even easier for lawmakers to keep open dialogues with their most savvy constituents.
Finally, Progressive States acts as a “war room” to equip legislators with the information they need to advocate good policy. Organization experts put together best-practice guidebooks and serve as surrogates for legislative staff members who need talking points and need them fast. Additionally, with an up-to-the-minute news service at their website, the group acts as an information hub that keeps legislators up-to-date on progressive news from other states, helps them identify trends and emboldens them to educate each other on how to succeed.
In short, by supporting state legislators and other groups in their efforts to spark progressive actions and get good ideas passed into law, Progressive States proves that state policy matters, and that good policy leads to good politics for all.
Board of directors
- Steve Doherty, Founding Co-Chair—Doherty currently serves as the Chairman of MontanaMontanaMontana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
's Fish, Wildlife, and Parks Commission and has been a practicing attorney since 1984. He is a partner at Smith, Doherty & Belcourt, PC, in Great Falls. He served in the Montana State Senate from 1991–2003, including four years as Minority LeaderMinority leaderIn U.S. politics, the minority leader is the floor leader of the second largest caucus in a legislative body. Given the two-party nature of the U.S. system, the minority leader is almost inevitably either a Republican or a Democrat, with their counterpart being of the opposite party. The position...
. He is also a former Fleming Fellow for the Center for Policy Alternatives. Doherty is also a member of the Montana Trial Lawyers Association. - David SirotaDavid SirotaDavid J. Sirota is a progressive Denver-based American political figure, radio show host and commentator. He is an author, book reviewer, nationally syndicated newspaper columnist, a Democratic political strategist, political operative, Democratic spokesperson, and blogger...
, Founding Co-Chair—Sirota is the New York Times-bestselling author of Hostile Takeover: How Big Money & Corruption Conquered Our Government—And How We Take It Back. He also serves as Senior Editor at In These TimesIn These TimesIn These Times is a politically progressive monthly magazine of news and opinion published by the Institute for Public Affairs in Chicago...
magazine, and is also a writer for Working AssetsWorking AssetsCREDO is an American for-profit company that offers mobile and long distance phone service. Based in San Francisco, California, Working Assets has raised over $65 million for nonprofit organizations such as GreenPeace, Planned Parenthood, Democracy Now etc.-History:Working Assets was founded in...
. Sirota is a twice a week guest on the Al Franken Show. He recently left his position as a fellow for at the Center for American ProgressCenter for American ProgressThe Center for American Progress is a progressive public policy research and advocacy organization. Its website states that the organization is "dedicated to improving the lives of Americans through progressive ideas and action." It has its headquarters in Washington D.C.Its President and Chief...
. He spent time in Washington D.C. working under Representative Bernie SandersBernie SandersBernard "Bernie" Sanders is the junior United States Senator from Vermont. He previously represented Vermont's at-large district in the United States House of Representatives...
from VermontVermontVermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
and senior Democrat, David Obey, on the House Appropriations Committee. - Wes BoydWes BoydWes Boyd is an American businessman. In 1987, he and his wife Joan Blades were the co-founders of Berkeley Systems, a San Francisco Bay area software company. After selling the company in 1997, Boyd and Blades went on to found the progressive political group MoveOn.org.-External links:...
, President of MoveOn.org -- Wes Boyd and his wife Joan BladesJoan BladesJoan Blades was the cofounder in 1987 with her husband Wes Boyd of Berkeley Systems, a San Francisco Bay area software company known for marketing the After Dark screensaver and the You Don't Know Jack trivia game...
were the cofounders in 1987 of Berkeley SystemsBerkeley SystemsBerkeley Systems was a San Francisco Bay Area software company co-founded in 1987 by Wes Boyd and Joan Blades. It made money early on by performing contract work for the National Institutes of Health, specifically in making modifications to the Macintosh so that it could be used by partially...
, a San Francisco Bay areaSan Francisco Bay AreaThe San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
software company. After selling the company in 1997, Boyd and Blades went on to found MoveOn.org. - David BrockDavid BrockDavid Brock is an American journalist and author, the founder of the media watchdog group, Media Matters for America, and a Democratic political operative...
, President and CEO of Media Matters for AmericaMedia Matters for AmericaMedia Matters for America is a politically progressive media watchdog group which says it is "dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media." Set up as a 501 non-profit organization, MMfA was founded in 2004 by journalist and...
-- Brock is the author of four political books, including The Republican Noise MachineThe Republican Noise MachineThe Republican Noise Machine is a 2004 book written by David Brock which chronicles the author's opinion of how the American right wing was able to build their media infrastructure...
: Right-Wing Media and How It Corrupts Democracy. His preceding book, Blinded by the RightBlinded by the RightBlinded by the Right: The Conscience of an Ex-Conservative is a 2002 book written by former conservative journalist David Brock detailing his departure from the conservative movement. It is also the story of his coming out as a gay man. In the book, he states that he visited gay bars with Matt...
: The Conscience of an Ex-Conservative, was a 2002 New York Times best-selling political memoir in which he chronicled his years as a conservative media insider. Brock serves on the advisory board of Democracy RadioDemocracy RadioDemocracy Radio was an organization founded in 2002 by Tom Athans and Paul Fiddick dedicated to creating political balance on America's commercial radio airwaves. The concept was to develop and incubate progressive oriented talk programming and enlist radio networks to market the programs to...
Inc. and is the recipient of the New Democrat NetworkNew Democrat NetworkThe New Democrat Network is an American think tank that promotes progressive Democratic candidates, especially those in a more centrist vein, although this focus has waxed and waned...
's first award for political entrepreneurship. - Rep. Garnet ColemanGarnet ColemanGarnet F. Coleman is a U.S. politician and a member of the Texas House of Representatives for District 147 since 1991. He is the son of John B. Coleman, M.D...
, Texas House of RepresentativesTexas House of RepresentativesThe Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Texas Legislature. The House is composed of 150 members elected from single-member districts across the state. The average district has about 150,000 people. Representatives are elected to two-year terms with no term limits...
-- Rep. Coleman has served in the Texas House since 1991. Twice in his career, he has been named to the prestigious Texas MonthlyTexas MonthlyTexas Monthly is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Austin, Texas. Texas Monthly is published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. and was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy, Texas Monthly chronicles life in contemporary Texas, writing on politics, the environment, industry, and education...
Ten Best Legislators list and has earned accolades and awards for his work on mental illness, voting rights, children's health insurance, and urban development. - Asm. Adriano EspaillatAdriano EspaillatAdriano Espaillat is currently a member of the New York State Senate and formerly of the New York State Assembly.Espaillat graduated from Bishop Dubois High School in 1974 and earned his B.S. degree in political science at Queens College in 1978...
, New York Assembly -- Assemblyman Espaillat was born in the Dominican RepublicDominican RepublicThe Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
. In 1996, he became the first Dominican to be elected to any state house in the country. During his time in the legislature, he has focused on making sure that New York's is a shared prosperity. - Leo GerardLeo GerardLeo W. Gerard is a steelworker and a Canadian and American labor leader. He was elected president of the United Steelworkers in 2001, and is the second Canadian to head the union. He is also a vice president of the AFL-CIO....
, United SteelworkersUnited SteelworkersThe United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union is the largest industrial labor union in North America, with 705,000 members. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, U.S., the United Steelworkers represents workers in the United...
-- Gerard rose through the ranks from working in a smelter at age 18 to serving as President of the United Steelworkers. In this position, he has grown the union's ranks and helped launch the Apollo AllianceApollo AllianceThe Apollo Alliance is a project organized by the Institute for America's Future and the Center on Wisconsin Strategy. The Alliance is a project of the Tides Center....
. - Ellen Golombek, SEIU -- Golombek has a long history of leadership in America's labor movement. She has served as President of Colorado's Federation of Labor and more recently as President of the SEIU-backed Americans for Health Care.
- Lisa Seitz Gruwell, Political Director for Skyline Public Works—Prior to joining Skyline, which merges venture capitalism with political philanthropy, she served as Press Secretary and District Director for former California Assembly Majority LeaderMajority leaderIn U.S. politics, the majority floor leader is a partisan position in a legislative body.In the federal Congress, the role differs slightly in the two houses. In the House of Representatives, which chooses its own presiding officer, the leader of the majority party is elected the Speaker of the...
Kevin Shelley. Seitz Gruwell has helped elect progressive candidates across the country at all levels of government. - Joe HoeffelJoe HoeffelJoseph Merrill "Joe" Hoeffel III is an American politician. A Democrat, he is currently a member of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners, having previously served from 1992 to 1998....
, former Congressman and state legislator—Congressman Hoeffel served in the Pennsylvania House of RepresentativesPennsylvania House of RepresentativesThe Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two year terms from single member districts....
from 1977 to 1984. In the 1990s, he served two terms as a Montgomery County Commissioner and was elected in 1998 to the U.S. Congress, where he served for three terms. - Steve Kest, Executive Director of ACORNAcornThe acorn, or oak nut, is the nut of the oaks and their close relatives . It usually contains a single seed , enclosed in a tough, leathery shell, and borne in a cup-shaped cupule. Acorns vary from 1–6 cm long and 0.8–4 cm broad...
-- Kest is the National Executive Director of ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform NowAssociation of Community Organizations for Reform NowThe Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now was a collection of community-based organizations in the United States that advocated for low- and moderate-income families by working on neighborhood safety, voter registration, health care, affordable housing, and other social issues...
. Kest has worked for ACORN since 1975, serving as Head Organizer in ArkansasArkansasArkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
, ConnecticutConnecticutConnecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
, and New JerseyNew JerseyNew Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, and as national Campaign Director, before becoming Executive Director in 1990. - George LakoffGeorge LakoffGeorge P. Lakoff is an American cognitive linguist and professor of linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley, where he has taught since 1972...
, Senior Fellow at the Rockridge InstituteRockridge InstituteThe Rockridge Institute was an American non-profit research and progressive think tank founded in 1997 and located in Berkeley, California from 2003 until April 30, 2008. Its stated goal was to strengthen democracy by providing intellectual support to the progressive community...
-- Lakoff is a Professor of Linguistics at the University of California at Berkeley and an expert on the art of political framing. He is the author of Moral PoliticsMoral PoliticsMoral Politics: How Liberals and Conservatives Think is a 1996 book by cognitive linguist George Lakoff. It argues that conservatives and liberals hold two different conceptual models of morality. Conservatives have a Strict Father morality in which people are made good through self-discipline and...
: How Liberals and Conservatives Think and Don't Think of an Elephant: Know Your Values, Frame the Debate. - Ned LamontNed LamontEdward Miner "Ned" Lamont, Jr. is a businessman and heir and most recently an unsuccessful candidate for the 2010 Democratic nomination for Governor of Connecticut. On May 22, 2010, Lamont received more than fifteen percent of the vote at the state Democratic convention, and appeared on the...
, President of Lamont Digital SystemsLamont Digital SystemsLamont Digital Systems is a privately-held company founded in 1984 by Ned Lamont, who most notably was the Democratic Party nominee for U.S. Senate from Connecticut in 2006...
-- Lamont founded his own company, Lamont Digital Systems, in 1984. A graduate of both HarvardHarvard UniversityHarvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
and the Yale School of ManagementYale School of ManagementThe Yale School of Management is the graduate business school of Yale University and is located on Hillhouse Avenue in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. The School offers Master of Business Administration and Ph.D. degree programs. As of January 2011, 454 students were enrolled in its MBA...
, he spent eight years in local government, and chaired the state investment advisory council. In 2006, as a strong anti-war proponent, defeated Joe LiebermanJoe LiebermanJoseph Isadore "Joe" Lieberman is the senior United States Senator from Connecticut. A former member of the Democratic Party, he was the party's nominee for Vice President in the 2000 election. Currently an independent, he remains closely affiliated with the party.Born in Stamford, Connecticut,...
in the Connecticut Democratic Primary for Senate. Lamont also has expertise on a range of policy issues such as health care and trade. - Robert McChesney, Founder and President of Free PressFree Press (organization)Free Press is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, national organization working to reform the media in the United States.It was founded in 2002 by media scholar Robert W. McChesney, The Nation contributor John Nichols, and Josh Silver, current CEO of the Democracy Fund, a foundation challenging the influence...
-- McChesney serves as Research Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignThe University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
. He is the author of many books regarding media reform, including the award-winning Rich Media, Poor Democracy: Communication Politics in Dubious Times and Telecommunications, Mass Media, and Democracy: The Battle for the Control of U.S. Broadcasting, 1928-1935. McChesney serves as President of Free Press, a grassroots media reform organization he co-founded. - Rep. Hannah PingreeHannah PingreeHannah M. Pingree is a Democratic politician from the State of Maine and daughter of Maine politician Chellie Pingree. She served four terms in the State Legislature including one as Speaker of the House before being forced to leave office by state term limits. In the Legislature she represented...
, Maine House of RepresentativesMaine House of RepresentativesThe Maine House of Representatives is the lower house of the Maine Legislature. The House consists of 151 members representing an equal amount of districts across the state. Each voting member of the House represents around 8,450 citizens of the state...
-- Representative Pingree represents ten coastal and island towns in the Maine House, where she serves as chair of the Health & Human services Committee. She works as capital campaign director for North Haven Community School. Prior to her election, she worked for iVillage.com, a large political website for women, and for her mother, Chellie PingreeChellie PingreeRochelle M. "Chellie" Pingree is an American politician. She is a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, representing since 2009. The district includes most of the southern part of the state, including Portland and Augusta.Pingree was a member of the Maine Senate from...
, in her run for the U.S. Senate. - John PodestaJohn PodestaJohn David Podesta was the fourth and final White House Chief of Staff under President Bill Clinton, from 1998 until 2001. He is the president of the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank in Washington, D.C., and is also a Visiting Professor of Law at the Georgetown University Law...
, President and CEO of the Center for American ProgressCenter for American ProgressThe Center for American Progress is a progressive public policy research and advocacy organization. Its website states that the organization is "dedicated to improving the lives of Americans through progressive ideas and action." It has its headquarters in Washington D.C.Its President and Chief...
-- Prior to launching the Center, Podesta served as Chief of Staff to President Bill ClintonBill ClintonWilliam Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
. He serves as a Visiting Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law CenterGeorgetown University Law CenterGeorgetown University Law Center is the law school of Georgetown University, located in Washington, D.C.. Established in 1870, the Law Center offers J.D., LL.M., and S.J.D. degrees in law...
and is considered an expert on technology policy. - Lee Saunders, Secretary-Treasurer of AFSCME, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. Previously, Saunders was Executive Assistant to AFSCME President Gerald McEnteeGerald McEnteeGerald W. "Jerry" McEntee is an American union activist. Since 1981, he has been the International President of the 1.4 million-member American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees , one of the largest and most politically active unions in the AFL-CIO. McEntee succeeded Jerry Wurf as...
. Before that he served as administrator of AFSCME District Council 37 in New York. - Naomi Walker, State Legislative Issues Coordinator for the AFL-CIOAFL-CIOThe American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, commonly AFL–CIO, is a national trade union center, the largest federation of unions in the United States, made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 11 million workers...
-- Walker researches, coordinates, and serves as a spokesperson on state legislative issues for the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations. - Rep. Neva Walker, Minnesota State House -- In 2001, Rep. Walker became first black woman to serve in the Minnesota LegislatureMinnesota LegislatureThe Minnesota Legislature is the legislative branch of government in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is a bicameral legislature located at the Minnesota Capitol in Saint Paul and it consists of two houses: the lower Minnesota House of Representatives and the Minnesota Senate...
in the state's history. Rep. Walker works as a community organizer and focuses her legislative work on issues of social and economic justice. - Rep. David ZuckermanDavid ZuckermanDavid Zuckerman is a farmer and a Progressive member of the Vermont House of Representatives, representing Chittenden-3-4 district. He grew up in Brookline, Massachusetts where he attended Brookline High School.-Career:...
, Vermont State HouseVermont State HouseThe Vermont State House, located in Montpelier, is the state capitol of Vermont and the seat of the Vermont General Assembly. The current Greek Revival structure is the third building on the same site to be used as the State House...
-- Zuckerman is a legislator in the Vermont House of Representatives. He currently serves as the Chair of the House Agriculture Committee. Working with both parties he has focused on agricultural policy, real healthcare reform, workers' rights, affordable housing, and civil rights. He also serves on the Chittenden CountyChittenden County, VermontChittenden County is a county located in the U.S. state of Vermont. As of 2010, the population was 156,545. Its shire town is Burlington. Chittenden is the most populous county in the state, with more than twice as many residents as Vermont's second-most populous county, Rutland.Chittenden County...
Board of the Vermont Farm Bureau and has served on the American Farm Bureau FederationAmerican Farm Bureau FederationThe American Farm Bureau Federation , commonly referred to as the Farm Bureau, is a nonprofit organization and the largest general farm organization in the United States...
Young Farmers & Ranchers Committee, and the Burlington Electric Commission.