James L. Stone Legislative Policy Day to be held Oct. 30

James L. Stone Legislative Policy Day to be held Oct. 30October 24, 2006Wendy S. Loughlinwsloughl@syr.edu

The eighth annual James L. Stone Legislative Policy Day in the School of Social Work at Syracuse University’s College of Human Services and Health Professions (HSHP) will be held Monday, Oct. 30, from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. in the Onondaga County Legislative Chambers in downtown Syracuse. About 120 people, including social work students and local and state political leaders, are expected to attend.

The topic for this year’s event, which is intended to provide social work students with a deeper understanding of the influences affecting their chosen profession, is “Just Compensation for New York’s Working Poor: The Politics and Economics of Living Wages and Employer Health Benefit Mandates.” Eric Kingson, professor of social work in HSHP, and Jeffrey Seltzer, a social work graduate student and president of the student group Social Workers United, organized the event.

Greetings and opening remarks will be offered by Diane Lyden Murphy, dean of HSHP; Alejandro Garcia, director of social work; Dale Sweetland, chair of the Onondaga County Legislature; and Seltzer. Kingson will also offer remarks and will introduce Ron Deutsch, executive director of New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness, who will speak on “Wage and Health Insurance Mandates in New York State.” New York State Sen. David Valesky will provide an overview of the role of social workers in the legislative process.

Two panel discussions, moderated by professor of social work Nancy Mudrick and assistant professor of social work Jennifer Propp, will follow. Panelists include Barrie Gewanter, executive director of the Central New York Civil Liberties Union; Rebecca Malchow, assistant state director for the National Federation of Independent Business; Trudi Renwick, senior economist with the Fiscal Policy Institute; Rick Oppedisano, chair of the Working Families Party in Central New York; Syracuse Common Councilor At-Large William Ryan; Mark Spadafore, field coordinator for the Central New York Area Labor Federation (AFL-CIO); and Deborah Warner, director of government affairs with the Greater Syracuse Chamber of Commerce.

The event will conclude with group workshops for students and faculty, facilitated by social work faculty members Paul Caldwell, Wan-Yi Chen, Kenneth Corvo, Kingson, Mudrick and Carrie Jefferson Smith.

The event is made possible by a gift from James L. Stone, deputy administrator of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and acting director of behavioral health for the Indian Health Service in HHS. Stone is also chair of the HSHP Board of Visitors.

For more information about the James L. Stone Legislative Policy Day, contact Kingson at (315) 443-1838 or erkingso@syr.edu.