By Thom Little, Ph.D. As we sit at the threshold of another new year with all of the possibilities and challenges it holds, I want to propose a new year’s resolution on behalf of SLLF for 2019: We resolve to do everything we can to bring this great nation together behind the democratic values and [...]
Eleven new legislative leaders have been appointed to the State Legislative Leaders Foundation (SLLF) board at its annual Board of Directors meeting in Las Vegas on November 30, 2018. The board also welcomes new Chair, Connecticut Senate President, Martin Looney and Vice Chair, Wisconsin Speaker, Robin Vos. “I’m eager to work with this great new group [...]
“Senator Ben Atchley will always be remembered by all of us here at SLLF as a man of humility, faith, love and integrity. He made me a better man knowing and working with him. Thank you, Senator, and Godspeed.” Steve Lakis, President, SLLF It is with great sadness that we must report that Senator Ben [...]
by Thom Little, Ph.D. My wife and I are now officially empty nesters. This year, our youngest daughter started college. She is a first year (they don’t call them freshmen) at Mr. Jefferson’s university, the University of Virginia. She has always done very well in school (all she got from me was her height), so [...]
By Thom Little, Ph.D. SLLF’s motto is “Inspiration, Education, Excellence.” Last weekend, I believe we fulfilled that mission and motto as we presented “Addressing the Opioid Crisis” in collaboration with the Center on Addiction and Johns Hopkins University & Medicine. The all-star faculty inspired the audience to act, educated them so they could act effectively [...]
By: Thom Little, Ph.D. In late August, 2018, Speakers of the House from more than half of the fifty states gathered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for the 27th Annual Meeting of the National Speakers Conference (NSC) hosted by the Honorable Robin Vos, President of the NSC and Speaker of the Wisconsin House of Representatives. The program [...]
By Thom Little, Ph.D. More than two centuries ago, fifty-five men from across thirteen American colonies established a government like none other before, a government where power was bestowed not by birth right or by armed might, but by consent. A democracy. The governed had, by the power of their voice and their vote, the [...]
By: Thom Little, Ph.D. For more than seventy years, the descendants of James H. and Virginia Howell Colson have gathered in Norwood, North Carolina on the first Sunday of June for the Colson Family Reunion. As one of those descendants, I have probably attended about half of the reunions, including the 2018 edition. When I [...]
By: Stephen G. Lakis, President, SLLF Just last year SLLF signed up with Bridge Alliance, a new organization whose stated goal is to restore civility to our national discourse. We believe the Bridge Alliance is onto something, not just because they speak truth when they point out how damaging the current lack of civility is [...]
By: Thom Little, Ph.D. A few weeks ago, I posted a blog entitled “Why Do They Do That?” trying to explain why younger legislators, staffers and constituents do the things they do–like sharing so much on social media, ignoring institutional practices and protesting instead of voting. In that piece, based on presentations at SLLF’s recent [...]