The California Budget Project works to improve public policies that affect low- and middle-income Californians through independent research, budget and policy analysis, and public education. Since 1995, the CBP has served as a resource for policy makers, advocates, community leaders, interested citizens, and the media.
Through the California Budget Bites blog, we hope to highlight important policy and budget developments in a very timely way.
About the contributors:
Jean Ross is the executive director of the CBP. Her prior experience includes serving as principal consultant to the Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee; senior consultant to the Assembly Human Services Committee; and assistant research director of the Service Employees International Union in Washington, DC. She serves on the board of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the Advisory Committee of California’s Franchise Tax Board, and the Board of the California Tax Reform Association. She graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and has a master’s degree in city and regional planning from the University of California, Berkeley.
Alissa Anderson is the deputy director of the CBP. Prior to joining the CBP, she was a research associate in the Education Policy Center at the Urban Institute. She also held a research internship at the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy and provided research consulting to several organizations, including the Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies. She received a master’s degree in urban planning from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a bachelor’s degree from Bryn Mawr College.
Steven Bliss is the CBP’s communications director. Prior to this, he was executive director of Renew Lehigh Valley, an organization working to promote urban revitalization and regional equity in eastern Pennsylvania. Steven previously worked as a San Francisco-based consultant specializing in policy research and analysis on housing, welfare, education, transportation, and regional economic development. Steven is a graduate of Northwestern University and holds a master’s degree in literature from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Scott Graves is a senior policy analyst at the CBP specializing in health and human services issues. Prior to joining the CBP, he worked as a researcher for the Tomás Rivera Policy Institute, Consumers Union, and the Public Policy Clinic at the University of Texas, Austin. He also was a California executive fellow and worked as a newspaper reporter. He received a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Texas, Austin, and a bachelor’s degree from California State University, Sacramento.
Jonathan Kaplan is a senior policy analyst at the CBP specializing in educational issues. Prior to joining the CBP, he taught law and United States history in Martinez, California. He holds a master’s degree in education from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and received his bachelor’s degree from Yale University.
