The U.S. president’s funding priorities

CLEVELAND: Rob Portman, director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) since May 2006, will speak about the economy and federal budget priorities at noon on Friday, January 5, 2007, at The City Club of Cleveland.

The White House OMB is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President and is an important conduit by which the White House oversees the activities of federal agencies. OMB is tasked with giving expert advice to senior White House officials on a range of topics relating to federal policy, management, legislative, regulatory, and budgetary issues.

Portman first served in the President’s cabinet as the U.S. trade representative. Previously he served as a representative of the Second District of Ohio in Congress, where he was chairman of the House Republican Leadership and liaison between the House Leadership and the White House. He served as a member of the House Ways and Means Committee and as vice chairman of the House Budget Committee.

Portman’s specific legislative successes include authoring the law to curtail unfunded federal mandates, four laws to reduce substance abuse and its consequences through prevention and education, and three laws to encourage people to save more for retirement.

Prior to his service in Congress, Portman was an associate in the Washington law firm of Patton Boggs from 1984 to 1986. He worked as an associate and then a partner at the law firm of Graydon, Head and Ritchey from 1986 to 1989 and 1991 to 1993 in Cincinnati. He served in the first Bush White House from 1989 to1991 as associate counsel to the President and later as director of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs.

Buckeye Business: Ohio’s Economic Future

Lt. Governor-elect Lee Fisher at The City Club of Cleveland

Nominee to be the next Ohio director of development, Lee Fisher, Ohio’s Lieutenant Governor-elect, will speak about his vision of what the Strickland-Fisher administration will bring to Ohio, especially with respect to the business environment, at noon on Friday, January 12, 2007, at The City Club of Cleveland.

As development director, Fisher will lead the administration’s efforts to create a business climate that boosts Ohio’s economy by encouraging new business growth and investment. He will also promote Ohio’s businesses domestically and abroad.

For the past seven years, Fisher has served as the president and CEO of the Center for Families and Children in Cleveland. He received the “2004 Nonprofit Executive of the Year Award” and the 2001 “Visionary Innovation in Business Award” from Smart Business magazine and Medical Mutual for his “entrepreneurial leadership” of the Center for Families and Children.

Fisher also has served as Ohio attorney general, state senator, state representative, private attorney, public company board director, and as a federal appellate law clerk. Voted “Ohio’s Outstanding Freshman Legislator” after his first term in the Ohio House of Representatives, he authored more than ten laws during his legislative career, including the child safety seat law, the crime victim assistance law, the missing children law, the hate crime law, and the hospice licensure law.

In 1998, Fisher was the Democratic nominee for Governor of Ohio.

Fisher has served on the boards of OfficeMax and REX Stores. He is the founder and former co-chair of the Mental Health Advocacy Coalition and serves or has served on many nonprofit boards, including the National Leadership Board of the Cleveland Clinic Cancer Center; the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children; and Oberlin College.

Tickets for this City Club Forum are $18 for members and $30 for non-members. Lunch is included. Reservations are required at least 24 hours in advance of the event. They can be purchased by calling The City Club at 216.621.0082 or visiting the website at www.cityclub.org.