Tune in to this event as it airs on CUNY TV on Wednesday, May 24th at 7:00 am, 1:00 pm, and 11:00 pm. It will also air on Saturday, May 27th at 4:00 pm.

On May 8, 2006, the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy hosted the latest installment of its 'Marketplace of Ideas' series featuring Senator Gloria Gary Lawlah of Maryland.  

First elected to the State Senate in 1991, Senator Lawlah authored a landmark 2005 bill requiring Maryland’s largest employers to contribute at least the nation’s average percentage of payroll costs to employee health care. The state legislature overrode a gubernatorial veto in early 2006, making Fair Share Health Care the law of the land in Maryland and inspiring a push for similar legislation in more than a dozen other states – including New York.

Panel discussion on implications of Senator Lawlah’s work to New York featured:

Dan Cantor, Executive Director, Working Families Party.

Diane J. Savino, New York State Senator (D-Brooklyn/Staten Island)

Introduction by John Catsimatidis, Chairman and CEO, Red Apple Group, Inc.

Moderated by Andrea Batista Schlesinger, Executive Director of the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy

Monday May 8, 2006 8:15 - 10:00a.m.
The Harvard Club

35 West 44th Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues)

State Senator Gloria Gary Lawlah of Maryland has been a member of Senate since January 9, 1991. She has served on numerous committees including: the Joint Committee on the Management of Public Funds; Budget and Taxation Committee; health & human services subcommittee; health, education & human resources subcommittee; public safety, transportation & environment subcommittee; Joint Committee on Health Care Delivery and Financing; and the Joint Legislative Work Group on Community College Financing.

Senator Lawlah has been a member of the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland, the Women Legislators of Maryland, and the National Conference of State Legislatures. She also served as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates from January 1987 to January 1991, representing District 26 (Prince George's County).

Senator Lawlah has been repeatedly recognized for her commitment to her constituents. She has received the Edgemeade Honor for Outstanding Service to Maryland Youth and Families; Citizen of the Year from Prince George's County Board of Trade; Champion Against Oral Cancer, University of Maryland Medical System; Award of Excellence, Mothers Against Drunk Driving; Honor for Building the Bridge to Educational Excellence in Maryland's Public Schools; and the Humanitarian Award from the University of Maryland Dental School. Senator Lawlah was chosen as one of Maryland's Top 100 Women in 2004.

Senator Lawlah was born in Newberry, South Carolina. She attended Hampton University where she received a degree in social studies. Senator Lawlah went on to receive her master’s degree in English and Administration from Trinity College, M.A. From 1969 – 1995 she served as a Teacher and Administrator for the District of Columbia public schools.

Dan Cantor is the founding Executive Director of the Working Families Party, one of the 3 minor parties with official ballot status in the state. The WFP is a community-labor party dedicated to advancing the interests and values of the middle-class, working-class and poor. Mr. Cantor has been a community, labor, and political organizer for 25 years. He was labor coordinator for Rev. Jesse Jackson’s 1988 Presidential campaign, and has worked across the country to build multi-racial, class-oriented coalitions. He has written numerous articles on American politics, and is co-author, with Juliet Schor, of “Tunnel Vision.”

John Catsimatidis is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Red Apple Group, Inc., a two billion dollar company with over 10,000 employees. Since founding the company in 1969 while still a student at New York University, Mr. Catsimatidis has overseen the growth of Red Apple to include 50 Gristides and Sloans supermarkets located throughout Manhattan as well as the Hellenic Times newspaper, Captial Air & Red Apple Aviation and an oil refining business. Mr. Catsimatidis has served in various capacities with numerous charitable, educational, and cultural organizations including the New York Police Athletic League, the Manhattan Council of Boy Scouts of America, the Brooklyn Tech Endowment Foundation and the John Catsimatidis Scholarship Fund at the NYU School of Business. Mr. Catsimatidis has been on the Board of Directors for the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy since 2002.

Diane Savino represents the 23rd Senate District, in the New York State Senate, which encompasses the North Shore of Staten Island and portions of Brooklyn (Bath Beach, Bensonhurst, Borough Park, Coney Island, Fort Hamilton, Gravesend, Seagate and Sunset Park).

Diane Savino has dedicated her entire professional career towards improving the lives of working people and the urban poor. She began her career in public service as a caseworker for the New York City’s Child Welfare Administration, providing direct assistance to abused and neglected children in the Agency's Division of Foster Care and Adoption. While on the job, Ms. Savino quickly became actively involved in her local labor union after witnessing first hand the unfair treatment she and her colleagues received from their employers that resulted in mass layoffs.

In her work to preserve the rights of her fellow workers, Diane Savino rose through the ranks to become the Vice President for Political Action & Legislative Affairs of her union – the Social Service Employees Union, Local 371, DC 37 of AFSCME. In that role she represented 16,000 public sector workers and their families at City Hall and the State Capital. Diane Savino is one of the most respected labor leaders in New York State and is known throughout the state as a fierce advocate for working families.

Diane Savino ran for the State Senate to change the way business is done in the State Legislature and to get our government to work for working people again. She will work to get our fair share of state funding for our education, healthcare, public safety and transportation needs. Ms. Savino will fight to ensure that the people of Staten Island and Brooklyn continue to enjoy the quality of life that makes our communities such a great place to live, work and raise a family. Diane Savino has spent a lifetime standing up for our children, our seniors and our working families and will continue to further this endeavor as a member of the New York State Senate.

Diane Savino is a graduate of St. John's University and the Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations; Ms. Savino resides in the Fort Wadsworth section of Staten Island.