September 16, 2020
We published our first edition of This Week on January 23, 2017. Our initial goal was to keep you both aware of and involved in legislative issues and regulatory matters that are important to Arizona with articles written by experienced experts who are involved in these issues every day. We wanted to introduce you to key Senators and Congressmen, and we also wanted to provide you with perspectives on the political process – because legislating and governing does not happen in a vacuum.
We have been humbled by the outstanding response to This Week. Several months ago, our great partners at the Arizona Chamber asked us to expand our reporting, and we have responded.
Our goals have not changed. But now This Week will have more. Much more.
John McKechnie will continue to report on banking and financial services, Ramona Lessen will continue to edit This Week and report on important committee hearings, Dana Marston will continue to edit and produce This Week, Al Jackson will continue to watch defense and defense appropriations issues, and former Congressman Erik Paulsen and I will continue to write on all things Washington in “Heard on the Hill.”
Patrick Robertson is new to the Total Spectrum family, but he is far from new to Washington. Patrick served former Senator Jay Rockefeller for nine years – the last five as his assistant chief of staff. He worked closely with the Senate Finance Committee on tax, trade, and trade adjustment issues, and he also worked closely with the Senate Commerce Committee. He now has spent over 10 years in the private sector and has wonderful relationships with Senate and House Democrats and their staff. Patrick is a graduate of American University’s Washington College of Law, and his in-laws live in Tucson.
Michael DiMaria is now a Partner and Southwestern Regional Director for Total Spectrum and serves on the Board of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry and InvisionAZ. Michael joined Total Spectrum after being the Arizona Director of Legislative and Regulatory Affairs for CenturyLink. He has a vast background and a world of experience in both tax and telecom policy, having worked for AT&T, Comcast, and Cox Communications.
Total Spectrum Spotlight will provide short but meaningful video interviews with both news makers and news shapers. We will work to ask the questions you would ask – and keep our interviews precise and focused.
The NEW This Week in Washington starts now.
We lead off with Patrick Robertson’s first “Washington Whispers” column. Erik Paulsen recently wrote an op/ed in Newsweek about the need for our trade agreements to prioritize American intellectual property, and we are reprinting it here. I write about what happened in August and some of the things to watch as we go forward toward the election in “Heard on the Hill”. Al Jackson provides an update on defense, and Ramona Lessen reports on a Senate Homeland Security hearing in August on the U.S. Postal Service.
And finally, I interview former Congressman Erik Paulsen in our inaugural episode of Total Spectrum Spotlight.
The NEW This Week could not have been possible without the constant support of Glenn Hamer, President of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the outstanding assistance provided by Erica Wrublik of the Arizona Chamber staff.