June 3, 2020 | Addressing the Economic Crisis: What’s Next for Federal Policy

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ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

The Honorable Richard E. Neal
Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee

Congressman Richard E. Neal represents the First Congressional District of Massachusetts in the United States Congress. Richard Neal was born in Worcester, Massachusetts on February 14, 1949 and was raised and educated in the City of Springfield. He is a 1972 graduate of American International College, where he received his Bachelor's Degree in Political Science and was a member of the National Honor Society.  He received his Masters Degree in Public Administration from the Barney School of Business and Public Administration at the University of Hartford in 1976.

Richard Neal was first elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1988. At the beginning of the 116th Congress, Richard Neal became Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.  Congressman Neal is the dean of both the Massachusetts Delegation and the New England Congressional Delegation. He is a long-time guest lecturer at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst,
and a Trustee at Mount Holyoke College. He is a National Trustee of John F. Kennedy Library in Boston. He served as the Mayor of the City of Springfield from 1984 to 1988,
and was highlighted in Newsweek Magazine for his many accomplishments as mayor.

Congressman Neal has been a lead sponsor of legislation to prevent American companies from moving offshore to avoid paying U.S. taxes. He has sponsored legislation that would increase
the national savings rate by encouraging the use of individual retirement accounts, and has worked to make health care and tuition expenses tax deductible for middle class people.
He successfully led the charge to eliminate the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) for middle-class families in America.  He has a long legislative history of fighting to preserve and protect Medicare and Social Security.

Congressman Neal is an At-Large Whip for the House Democrats. He is a co-chairman of the New England Congressional Caucus, where he advocates for the unique regional interests of the six New England States. Congressman Neal is the Democratic Leader of the Friends of Ireland Caucus.
 

Pam Olson
Washington National Tax Services Practice Leader, PwC

Pam Olson  is a U.S. Deputy Tax Leader and Washington National Tax Services Leader of PwC. In her role with WNTS, Olson leads a team that includes many former senior government officials and policy advisers. 

Prior to joining PwC, Olson led the Washington tax practice at Skadden, Arps, and served as assistant secretary for tax policy at the US Department of the Treasury. 
Olson has represented clients in a broad range of matters, including IRS audits, appeals and litigation; congressional investigations; private letter ruling requests, proposed regulations, and other IRS and Treasury guidance; and in the legislative process. She has advised clients on tax and social security reform and on the structuring of financing, partnership, and M&A transactions. She is a frequent speaker on tax, economic and federal budget matters and has testified before several congressional committees, most recently before the Senate Finance Committee on international tax reform. 
Olson also held positions with the chief counsel’s office of the Internal Revenue Service as special assistant to the chief counsel, attorney-adviser in the Legislation and Regulations Division and trial attorney in San Diego District Counsel.

In 2000 and 2001, Olson was the first woman to serve as chair of the American Bar Association Section of Taxation.  Olson received her B.A., M.B.A., and J.D. from the University of Minnesota.

Mark J. Mazur
Director of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center

Mark J. Mazur is the Robert C. Pozen director of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center and a vice president at the Urban Institute. His research interests cover all aspects of tax policy. 
From 2012 until early 2017, he was the assistant secretary for tax policy at the US Department of the Treasury. Mazur served in the federal government for 27 years in various positions, including policy economist at the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation, senior economist at the President’s Council of Economic Advisers; senior director at the National Economic Council; chief economist and senior policy adviser and director of policy at the US Department of Energy; acting administrator of the Energy Information Administration; director of research, analysis, and statistics at the Internal Revenue Service; and deputy assistant secretary for tax analysis in the Office of Tax Policy. Before entering public service, Mazur was an assistant professor in Heinz College at Carnegie-Mellon University. He has a bachelor’s degree in financial administration from Michigan State University and a master’s degree in economics and a PhD in business from Stanford University.

Cara Griffith
President and CEO, Tax Analysts

Cara provides strategic oversight for the direction of Tax Analysts. She has been instrumental in developing strategies to improve the Tax Notes suite of products and to aggressively pursue transparency in the administration of tax systems. Previously, Cara managed the editorial department, including the flagship daily news publications and weekly magazines. Griffith has written for a broad range of tax policy publications, including Tax Notes StateThe Tax AdviserThe Hedge Fund Law Report, and The Hill. She regularly speaks at tax conferences and other events on tax issues, on a variety of technical tax issues as well as the need for transparency in tax administration.

Griffith has a BA in political science and a BA in international studies from the University of Evansville and a JD from the George Washington University Law School.