This week has been my last at CPPP, and even though I am excited about my move to DC and what lies ahead, I am a little sorry to be leaving so soon. I’ve gotten to work on some pretty cool projects at CPPP, and have learned a lot, both about the technical aspects of my job (video/audio editing, grant proposal writing, managing a web site, etc), and about the policy areas that our analysts work on.
Earlier today, we had one of the last CPPP events that I’ll be a part of, a Kids Count briefing highlighting new numbers on national child well-being from the Annie E. Casey Foundation (they aren’t good). We got quite a bit of coverage, and even though the event was a last-minute affair, we were still able to get about 150 people to show up. State Rep. Mark Strama and his wife, Crystal Cotti, delivered introductory remarks, and after the presentation, they joined our policy analysts onstage to field questions. The discussion pretty quickly gravitated towards state budget issues, mainly what state officials and anti-poverty advocates can do to prevent deep budget cuts that could prove harmful to education, health care, nutrition, and other state programs that drive down child poverty. After one question, Strama went on a bit of a tangent and made an encouraging observation that I thought was worthwhile. Luckily, I had my audio recorder rolling up on Strama’s podium, and I’ve posted the audio here.
