Issue Forums are designed to complement the Session Internship curriculum and are an academic requirement. Forums provide a scholastic setting within the Internship for student discussion and insight on the practical aspects of the legislative process, bipartisanship and policies. Assembly leadership and Members are joined by distinguished members of the executive branch, judiciary, academia, experts on government and state issues, and Assembly staff. Lecture topics include the State budget, the economy, education, and criminal justice. Issue Policy Forums are scheduled on Mondays and/or Tuesdays, including evenings from 5:30pm to 7:30pm.

• Speaker of the New York State Assembly

• The Honorable Deborah J. Glick; Chair of the Intern Committee, Higher Education Committee

• The Honorable Herman D. Farrell, Jr., Chair of Ways and Means Committee, New York State Assembly

• Members of the Assembly:

• The Honorable David A. Paterson, Governor of New York State

• The Honorable Richard Ravitch, Lieutenant Governor of New York State

• The Honorable Judith S. Kaye, Chief Judge, New York State Court of Appeals

• The Honorable Thomas P. DiNapoli, New York State Comptroller

• The Honorable Lorraine Cortés-Vásquez, New York State Secretary of State

• Judy R. Rapfogel, Chief of Staff, Speaker Sheldon Silver

• James A. Yates, Counsel to Speaker Sheldon Silver

• Dean A. Fuleihan, Secretary, Ways and Means Committee / Program and Policy

• Dr. Roman Hedges, Faculty Advisor

• James R. Tallon, Jr., Regent, New York State Board of Regents

• Edward M. Cupoli, Ph.D., Head of the Nanoeconomics Constellation and Professor of Nanoeconomics at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering at University at Albany, State University of New York

• Elizabeth Benjamin, Journalist

• Theresa A. Bischoff, CEO of the American Red Cross in Greater New York

• Economic Panel:

  Ways and Means Committee: Inbong Kang, Audra Nowosielski, Anthony Rodolakis Division of Budget: Qiang Xu

• Assembly Staff Panel:

  Ways and Means Committee: Victor Franco, Lonnie Threatte, and Blake Washington Program and Counsel: Suzanne O. Bolling, Lynelle Bosworth and Simonia O. Brown