2015
Wisdom, Moderation and
OPPORTUNITY
Focusing on innovative solutions
to Georgia’s challenges
Hosted by
The Georgia Public Policy Foundation
and
The Conservative Policy Leadership Institute
Renaissance Atlanta Waverly
October 15, 2015
7:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
ABOUT THE GEORGIA LEGISLATIVE POLICY FORUM:
Hosted annually by the Georgia Public Policy Foundation and the Conservative Policy
Leadership Institute, this daylong, non-partisan event brings state and national experts to
Atlanta to focus on Georgia-specific solutions to the state’s challenges. In 2015, the sixth
annual forum, the topics are economic, health care and education opportunity.
The 2015 Forum theme – “Wisdom, Justice and Opportunity” – is adapted from the Georgia
State Motto: “Wisdom, Justice, and Moderation.”
The Forum has been described as “the opening shot to the legislative session.”
RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
1) Please post highlights and thoughts on social media during the Sixth
Annual Georgia Legislative Policy Forum 2015. Use hashtag
#galegforum15
2) We appreciate your commitment to this daylong Forum and understand
you may need to monitor your phone. PLEASE be considerate: Turn off
the ringer on your phone during sessions and take your phone calls and
private discussions outside the conference room.
3) During Q&A, make your question a QUESTION. State your name (and
affiliation, if you have any) first before asking your question. Notecards
are on the table if you prefer to write your question.
4) Keep your questions brief so that our experts on the stage can respond to
as many attendees as possible.
On Twitter or Facebook?
Use hashtag #galegforum15
SPONSORS
The Georgia Public Policy Foundation and the Conservative Policy Leadership Institute gratefully
acknowledge the sponsors of the Sixth Annual Georgia Legislative Policy Forum for their support of this
important event and their commitment to leadership of a greater Georgia.
PLATINUM SPONSOR
GOLD SPONSORS
SILVER SPONSORS
BRONZE SPONSORS
AGENDA
7:30-8:00 – Continental Breakfast
8:00 – Welcome
 Senator Hunter Hill, Chairman, Conservative Policy Leadership Institute
Pledge of Allegiance
8:15 – 9:00 Principles Award and Breakfast Keynote
Principles Award
 Presentation of the Principles Award by the Conservative Policy Leadership Institute
Breakfast Keynote:
 Ross Mason, Founder, Healthcare Institute for National Renewal and Innovation
9:00 – 10:10 Session One: Opportunities in Health: Access to Quality Care
Georgia has rejected Medicaid expansion. Is there a better way to provide access to care for the
working poor and strengthen our safety net providers?
 Dr. John C. Goodman, President and CEO of the Goodman Institute and considered the
“father of Health Savings Accounts;” author of, “A Better Choice: Healthcare Solutions
for America”
Moderator: Kelly McCutchen, President and CEO, Georgia Public Policy Foundation
10:10 Break
10:15 – 11:30 Session Two: Opportunity Works: Reconciling the Safety Net and Personal
Responsibility
 Bill McGahan, Founder of Georgia Works!
 Logan Pike, co-author of the Heartland Institute’s “2015 Welfare Reform Report Card”
 Robert Doar, Morgridge Fellow in Poverty Studies at the American Enterprise Institute;
former commissioner of NYC Human Resources Administration, the largest local social
services agency in the United States
Moderator: Alison Fraser, Managing Director of Research and Policy for the Charles Koch
Institute
11:30 – 12:15 Breakout Sessions
12:15 –1:45 Lunch
Welcome
 Rep. Jan Jones, Speaker Pro Tem, Georgia House of Representatives
Invocation
Sponsor acknowledgment: Sarah Douglas, Executive Director, Conservative Policy Leadership
Institute
Luncheon Keynote:
 Arthur Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute, “Washington’s hottest
think tank;” author of, “The Conservative Heart: How to Build a Fairer, Happier, and
More Prosperous America”
1:40 CPLI Class photograph (Stage)
1:45 – 3:00 Session Three: Equity and Opportunity in Education: The Road to The
American Dream
Education Innovation Speed Round: Cary Rivers, Downtown Academy (Athens, Ga.) | Dr.
Eric Wearne, St. John Bosco Academy | Kelley Gary, Acton Academy | Gareth Genner, Great
Teachers’ Academy


Dr. Ben Scafidi, director of the Education Economics Center in the Coles College of
Business at Kennesaw State University
Sen. Scott Hammond, Nevada senator, public school teacher and sponsor of Nevada’s
Universal Education Savings Account legislation
Moderator: Patrick Jones, Director of Strategic Engagement, Georgia Public Policy
Foundation
3:00 Closing remarks
 Casey Cagle, Lieutenant Governor of Georgia
3:30 – 4:30 Bridges to Education Reception: (optional)
Join our education keynote speakers, school representatives and teachers to continue the
conversation and ask questions in a smaller, informal environment.
Share highlights and thoughts about the Georgia Legislative Policy Forum 2015
on Twitter and Facebook!
Use hashtag #galegforum15
SPEAKERS, PANELISTS AND MODERATORS
Arthur Brooks
Luncheon Keynote Speaker
Arthur C. Brooks is president of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), which
The Wall Street Journal describes as “Washington’s hottest think tank.” He is
also the Beth and Ravenel Curry Scholar in Free Enterprise at AEI.
Immediately before joining AEI, Brooks was the Louis A. Bantle Professor of
Business and Government at Syracuse University, where he taught economics
and social entrepreneurship.
Brooks is the author of 11 books and hundreds of articles on topics including the role of
government, fairness, economic opportunity, happiness and the morality of free enterprise. His
latest book is The New York Times best-seller, “The Conservative Heart: How to Build a
Fairer, Happier, and More Prosperous America.” His other books include The New York Times
best-seller, “The Road to Freedom: How to Win the Fight for Free Enterprise” (2012); “The
Battle: How the Fight Between Free Enterprise and Big Government Will Shape America’s
Future” (2010); “Gross National Happiness” (2008); “Social Entrepreneurship” (2008), and
“Who Really Cares” (2006).
Before pursuing his work in public policy, Brooks spent 12 years as a classical musician in the
United States and Spain.
Brooks is a frequent guest on national television and radio talk shows and has been published
widely in publications including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The
Washington Post.
Brooks has a Ph.D. and an M.Phil. in policy analysis from the RAND Graduate School. He also
holds a master’s degree in Economics from Florida Atlantic University and a bachelor’s degree
in Economics from Thomas Edison State College.
Ross Mason
Breakfast Keynote Speaker
Ross Mason is founder of the Healthcare Institute for National Renewal and
Innovation (HINRI) and a Senior Fellow at the Georgia Public Policy
Foundation. A venture philanthropist focused on making Georgia a national and
global leader in health innovation, the Madison, Ga., native became passionate
about health care after volunteering at an AIDS hospital in Zambia in 1999.
In 2004, he created HINRI, a venture philanthropy that works with “portfolio
partners” to serve the indigent and uninsured, autistic children, wounded warriors and their
families, victims of sex trafficking and institutions that protect human rights.
Mason is the former Chairman of the Georgia Department of Community Health Board, former
Chairman of the Metro Atlanta United Way’s Health Access Board, and former Chairman of the
Board of Visitors at Georgia Regents University.
He chairs the Commercialization Advisory Board for the Rick Hansen Institute (a Canadianbased nonprofit organization focused on improved treatments for people with spinal cord
injuries). He serves on the Board of Directors of Street Grace, a nonprofit in Metro Atlanta
working to end sex trafficking of minors, and on Emory University’s Healthcare Advisory
Board.
In his professional life Mason is an entrepreneur, angel investor and strategic advisor. Prior to
his accident in 2007, he was actively involved in triathlons, wreck, cave and ice diving, surfing,
rock and ice climbing, and was a NASCAR-certified driver.
Mason holds a bachelor’s degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Georgia Tech and
an MBA in finance from The Wharton School. He also studied literature and history at Oxford
and Russian at Middlebury College.
Casey Cagle
Casey Cagle is Lieutenant Governor of Georgia. A successful entrepreneur and
respected former State Senator, Cagle made history in 2006 by becoming the
first Republican elected Lieutenant Governor, Georgia’s second highest office.
He was re-elected in November 2010 and 2014. In that position, Cagle has
focused his conservative principles on helping make Georgia a place where
businesses can grow and families can prosper.
Cagle is a champion of the Charter Systems Act and providing a path to career
technical education for Georgia’s high school students. He launched the Georgia College and
Career Academy Network, a partnership between local community leaders, school systems and
Georgia’s technical colleges.
The college and career academies provide a relevant and rigorous curriculum aimed at
preparing students for a highly skilled, 21st-Century economy upon graduation. Today, Georgia
has 33 college and career academies.
After being named one of the 100 most influential Georgians, Cagle was one of four public
servants in the country to be honored by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools with
the Champion for Charters Award.
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Robert Doar
Robert Doar is the Morgridge Fellow in Poverty Studies at the American
Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he studies and evaluates how free enterprise
and improved federal policies and programs can reduce poverty and provide
opportunities for vulnerable Americans.
Specifically, Doar focuses on the employment, health, education and community
participation of low-income Americans and their children.
Before joining AEI, Doar was commissioner of New York City’s Human Resources
Administration, where he administered 12 public assistance programs for the largest local social
services agency in the United States. Programs included welfare, food assistance, public health
insurance, home care for the elderly and disabled, energy assistance, child support enforcement
services, adult protective services and domestic violence assistance, as well as help for people
living with HIV/AIDS.
Before that, Doar was New York State commissioner of social services, helping make New
York a model for the implementation of welfare reform. Since joining AEI he has written for
The Wall Street Journal, National Review and Real Clear Markets.
Doar has a bachelor’s degree in History from Princeton University.
Alison Acosta Fraser
Alison Acosta Fraser is Managing Director of Research and Policy at the
Charles Koch Institute (CKI), where she oversees research on a variety of
critical issues including economic freedom, fiscal policy, criminal justice and
policing reform, cronyism and technology and innovation.
Before joining CKI, Fraser was Director of the Roe Institute for Economic
Policy Studies at the Heritage Foundation, managing research on a wide
range of domestic economic issues. Under Fraser’s leadership, Heritage’s research helped
define and communicate the long-term fiscal threats from spending and taxes.
Fraser was co-author of the Heritage budget plan, “Saving the American Dream,” and a member
of the Fiscal Wake-Up Tour, designed to educate Americans about the nation's poor financial
condition.
Fraser has appeared on CNBC, CNN, FOX and MSNBC, Bloomberg, PBS and the BBC. Her
commentaries have appeared in USA Today, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The
Philadelphia Inquirer, National Review Online and The Washington Times.
Fraser has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from California State University
Fullerton.
John C. Goodman
John C. Goodman is one of the nation’s leading thinkers on health policy. The
Wall Street Journal calls Goodman “the father of Health Savings
Accounts.” Modern Healthcare says he is one of four people who have most
influenced the changes shaping our health care system.
Goodman is the author of nine books, including, “Priceless: Curing the
Healthcare Crisis;” “Leaving Women Behind: Modern Families, Outdated
Laws” (with Kimberley Strassel); and, “Patient Power” (with Gerald
Musgrave), the condensed version of which sold more than 300,000 copies and is credited
with playing a pivotal role in the defeat of Hillary Clinton’s health reform.
His editorials have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Investor’s Business
Daily, Los Angeles Times and many other publications. He regularly appears on television,
including CNN, CNBC and Fox News. He regularly briefs members of Congress on economic
policy and frequently testifies before congressional committees. He is author or co-author of
more than 50 published studies on such topics as health policy, tax reform and school choice.
Goodman received a Ph.D. in Economics from Columbia University. He has taught and done
research at Columbia University, Stanford University, Dartmouth University, Southern
Methodist University and the University of Dallas. He received the prestigious Duncan Black
award in 1988 for the best scholarly article on public choice economics.
Scott Hammond
Scott Hammond is a Nevada State Senator, public school teacher and sponsor
of the near-universal Education Savings Account legislation approved by that
state’s Legislature.
Hammond began his legislative career in the Nevada Assembly in 2011 and
has been in the Senate since 2013, where he is co-Majority Whip. Born in
Syracuse, N.Y., into a military family, Hammond graduated from high school
in Alaska. He studied at the University of Alaska Fairbanks as well as the
University of Utah before graduating with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Political Science
from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV).
Hammond teaches government and Spanish in Nevada’s Clark County School District and
political science at UNLV. As the Spanish Club adviser for his school, he has taken his students
all over Central America and Spain. He coaches high school girls’ basketball as well as softball
and youth soccer.
He is a founding member of the Somerset Academy of Las Vegas, a charter school that received
its charter in 2011 and has grown into the largest charter school in the state of Nevada, serving
more than 4,000 students on four campuses.
Hammond and his wife, Tonya, have four young children, three of them adopted, and are
members of Families Supporting Adoption, where they support other couples wishing to start a
family through adoption.
Jan Jones
Jan Jones is a Georgia State Representative for northwest Fulton County and
Speaker Pro Tem of the Georgia House, the chamber’s second-highest
position.
Jones, who was first elected to office in 2003, is a passionate advocate for
changing lives and increasing economic opportunities through improved
public education and government closer to the people. She has authored a
wide variety of legislation including bills to bring local control, transparency and accountability
to government.
Several of Jones’ legislative accomplishments have been geared toward reforming Georgia’s
educational system to become more innovative and flexible. Additionally, she has consistently
voted to reduce government spending and shrink the state budget.
Jones, a native of Warner Robins, Ga., has lived in Fulton County for 25 years. A former
marketing manager for HBO, she owned a home-based small business while raising her
children and operates an energy consulting business with her husband.
She holds a B.A. from the University of Georgia and an MBA in Finance from Georgia State
University.
Patrick Jones
Patrick Jones is Director of Strategic Engagement for the Georgia Public
Policy Foundation. He is also the founder and CEO of Creative Jones
Collective, LLC, a content marketing and engagement agency; and Career
Journey GPS, Inc., an angel-funded and emerging startup in the Education-toEmployment domain.
Since 2002, Jones has operated as an entrepreneur and independent
management consultant on several diverse new media-, technology- and software industryrelated projects. Before that, he was a Partner with Siebel Systems (now Oracle), a Principal at
Diamond Technology Partners (acquired by PwC) and Senior Consultant with
PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Jones started his professional career in Georgia in 1988 in the field of politics, including a year
as the state GOP deputy political director. He was a panelist in President George W. Bush’s
National Economic Summit in 2002, and Gov. Sonny Perdue’s Racial Reconciliation Panel in
2003.
He was a member of the Commission for a New Georgia Task Force, an appointed
Commissioner to the Georgia State Film, Video & Music Commission, and a board member for
the Georgia Public Policy Foundation and the Conservative Policy Leadership Institute. He
worked as the Director of Programs for Coretta Scott King at the MLK Jr. Federal Holiday
Commission. He serves on the Board of the Atlanta Community Food Bank and is a graduate of
Leadership Atlanta and the Conservative Policy Leadership Institute.
Jones holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics with a minor in Political Science from Miami
University and earned his MBA at Duke University.
Kelly McCutchen
Kelly McCutchen is President and CEO of the Georgia Public Policy
Foundation.
McCutchen, who started at the Foundation in 1993 as research director, focuses
on education, tax, health care and economic policy. He helped create the Civic
Renewal Project to highlight the work of outstanding community-based
organizations; the “No Excuses” program to recognize and study highachieving, high-poverty public schools, and award-winning statewide report cards on education,
crime and taxes.
He is a Board Member of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and Chairman of the Board of the
Healthcare Institute for National Renewal and Innovation (HINRI) Foundation. He serves on
the Education Policy Committee and the Health Care Policy Committee for the Georgia
Chamber of Commerce; the Georgia Science and Technology Executive Committee; the Public
Policy Committee for the Metro Atlanta United Way, and is a policy advisor for the Technology
Association of Georgia.
McCutchen is a co-founder of the Warrior Alliance, a nonprofit organization whose mission is
to make Georgia the national leader in programs supporting military veterans and their families.
He has served on the boards of the Georgia Tech Alumni Association, Leadership Georgia and
the Conservative Policy Leadership Institute and was a founder and Governing Board Chair of
Tech High, a math-, science- and technology-focused public charter school in Atlanta.
Before joining the Foundation, McCutchen was Assistant Vice President in the Trust
Department of Trust Company Bank in Atlanta. A native of Ellijay, Ga., McCutchen holds a
Bachelor of Science in Management from Georgia Tech.
Share highlights and thoughts about the Georgia Legislative Policy Forum 2015
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Use hashtag #galegforum15
William C. McGahan
William (Bill) McGahan is a retired investment banker and the founder of
Georgia Works!, an Atlanta-based residential, transitional work program aimed
at ending homelessness, reducing criminal recidivism and changing life habits.
McGahan has been involved in many community organizations and non-profit
boards, among them the State of Georgia Housing Trust Fund for the Homeless
Commission; From Houses to Homes; Atlanta Academy; The Paces Civic
Association; and The National Foundation for Facial Reconstruction. He is an Atlanta Area CoChair of the Steering Committee for the Governor’s Office of Transition, Support and Reentry.
McGahan holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Southern Methodist University and an
MBA from the University of Virginia.
Logan Pike
Logan Pike is a state government relations manager for the Government
Relations Department at The Heartland Institute. She is responsible for executing
Heartland’s outreach strategy by developing government and coalition relations
to advance Heartland’s free-market message.
Pike is the co-author of The Heartland Institute’s “2015 Welfare Reform Report
Card.” Her work has appeared in several publications, including Fox News
Opinion, The Washington Times, The Daily Caller, National Review, Breitbart and Townhall
Magazine.
A graduate of Florida State University, she has Bachelor of Science degrees in Political Science
and International Affairs.
Benjamin Scafidi
Dr. Benjamin Scafidi is a professor of economics and director of the Education
Economics Center in the Coles College of Business at Kennesaw State
University. He is also a Senior Fellow with the Milton and Rose Friedman
Foundation for Educational Choice and the Georgia Public Policy Foundation.
Previously, he served as the director of education policy for the Georgia GOAL
Scholarship Program; the first chairman of the state of Georgia’s Charter
Schools Commission; the Charter Advisory Committee; the Education Policy Advisor to
Governor Sonny Perdue; on the staff of both of Governor Roy Barnes’ Education Reform Study
Commissions, and as an expert witness for the state of Georgia in school funding litigation.
Scafidi received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Virginia and his bachelor’s
degree in Economics from the University of Notre Dame.
Notes …
About the Georgia Public Policy Foundation: The Foundation is an
independent, state-based nonprofit 501(c)(3) think tank – a public policy
research organization – that proposes market-oriented approaches to
public policy to improve the lives of Georgians. Contributions to support
the Foundation’s work are tax-deductible.
The Foundation’s regular events include Leadership Breakfasts and
Policy Briefing Luncheons. Weekly publications are the Friday Facts and
Friday Idea commentaries. Visit georgiapolicy.org to read about innovative solutions to the
state's challenges, watch streaming online video of Foundation events or sign up for e-mail
notifications.
Join the Foundation's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/GeorgiaPolicy
Discuss state issues on our blog, The Forum, at georgiapolicy.org/category/the-forum/
Follow the Foundation on twitter at http://www.twitter.com/gppf
Georgia Public Policy Foundation
3200 Cobb Galleria Parkway
Suite 214
Atlanta GA 30339
404-256-4050
[email protected]
www.georgiapolicy.org
Changing Georgia Policy,
Changing Georgians’ Lives
About the Conservative Policy Leadership Institute (CPLI): The
Institute is a training initiative designed to position Georgia to lead the
nation in public governance based on conservative principles and
values. Founded by alumni from the Coverdell Leadership Institute,
CPLI recruits public policy-oriented individuals who have
demonstrated leadership experience and who desire and advanced
issue-based educational experience grounded in conservative thought.
The program, in partnership with the Georgia Public Policy
Foundation, trains Georgia’s leaders to shape the public policy debate
and govern by adhering to conservative principles.
CPLI is a non-partisan educational organization that operates under the Internal Revenues
Service – Section 501(c)(3). Donations are tax-deductible. CPLI does not endorse, support or
oppose candidates or proposed legislation. CPLI has an open application policy, and CPLI
programs and materials are available to the public.
Conservative Policy Leadership Institute
[email protected]
http://cpli.info/
678-521-5289