NCSL's 2012-2013 Officers' Biographical Information

Legislators and legislative staffers govern the National Conference of State Legislatures.  NCSL members elect from among themselves a 60-person Executive Committee.  Seven officers on this committee direct the overall work of the Conference.  Officers serve one-year terms that begin at each Annual Legislative Summit. They are elected at the vice president, or staff vice chair level and annually ascend to the next post.  Executive Committee Home Page.

• Speaker Terie Norelli, New Hampshire; President
• Senator Bruce Starr, Oregon; President-Elect
• Senator Debbie Smith, Nevada; Vice President
• Patsy Spaw, Texas; Staff Chair
• Tom Wright, Alaska; Staff Vice Chair
• Michael Adams, Virginia; Immediate Past Staff Chair

NCSL President
Speaker Terie Norelli
New Hampshire

Capitol Office
House of Representatives
State House
107 North Main Street
Concord, New Hampshire  03301-4951 
(605) 271-3661

Speaker Terie Norelli is serving her ninth term in the New Hampshire House of Representatives. She is president of the National Conference of State Legislatures and has served as chair of the NCSL Standing Committees and as co-chair of the working group on NCSL policies and procedures.

Norelli, a Democrat, has represented Rockingham County District 26 in New Hampshire since 1996. In 2006 she was elected speaker, the first Democrat elected in the state in 84 years. When Republicans regained control of the House in 2010, she became minority leader. After the election in 2012 she once again was elected to the role of speaker. She chairs the House Committee on Rules and was chair of the House subcommittee responsible for restructuring the electric industry to help reduce harmful air emissions.

Norelli is committed to women’s advocacy, economic and civil rights, and the environment, which is reflected in the many local and statewide organizations in which she has been involved. In addition, she was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 2008 and is featured in two books about women in politics: “Pearls, Politics and Power: How Women Can Win and Lead” and “Women at the Table: 40 Intimate Profiles of Political Women in the Northeast.”

NCSL President Terie Norelli graduated summa cum laude from the University of New Hampshire with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics education and membership in Phi Beta Kappa. She taught high school math before being elected to the New Hampshire House and lives in Portsmouth with her husband.

NCSL President Elect
Senator Bruce Starr
Oregon

Capitol Office
900 Court Street NE, S-411
Salem, Oregon, 97301
(503) 986-1715
 

Senator Bruce Starr is in his third term representing Oregon’s 15th Senate district. He has been actively involved in NCSL for more than a decade, including service on NCSL’s 60-member Executive Committee. He has held numerous NCSL positions, starting with the Elections Reform Task Force formed in the wake of the 2000 Bush/Gore presidential election. He chaired the NCSL Transportation Committee and the Working Group on the Federal Surface Transportation Act Reauthorization. He also served on NCSL’s Executive Committee's Working Group on Committee Structure and Policy Development Process; the Public Private Partnerships Transportation Working Group; and the Deficit Reduction Task Force.

Starr lives in Hillsboro, Ore., with his wife and their two children.

NCSL Vice President
Senator Debbie Smith
Nevada

Capitol Office
101 North Carson Street
Carson City, Nevada
(775) 233-2905

Senator Debbie Smith served in the Nevada Assembly for more than 10 years, 2001-2002 and 2004-2011 (first elected November 2000; after lapse in service, subsequently elected November 2004)—eight special and five regular sessions. She was elected to the Senate in 2012; Speaker pro Tempore, 2011; Assistant Majority Whip, 2007-2009.  Her affiliations are Board Member, Nevada Afterschool Network; Board, Education Alliance; Washoe County School District Parent Involvement Council; Consultant, Nevada Parent Teacher Association (PTA); Advisory Board, Northern Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation; Sparks Chamber of Commerce; Office and Professional Employees International Union Local 29.  Personal and professional achievements include Toll Fellow, 2010; Yale Women’s Campaign School, 2010; Public Education Hall of Fame, 2009; Elected Official of the Year, Disability Advocates; Public Official of the Year, Nevada Association of Social Workers; Legislator of the Year, School Counselor’s Association; Western Legislative Academy, The Council of State Governments–WEST, 2002; Flemming Fellow, Class of 2002; Past President, Nevada PTA; Past Member: Lander County School Board, National PTA Board of Directors, Sparks Charter Commission; Freshman Lawmaker of the Year, Peace Officers Research Association of Nevada, 2001; Life Member, National PTA; Former Chair, Council to Establish Academic Standards.

Debbie was born in Tucson, Arizona and is married with four children.  Her hobbies and special interests include reading, walking and scrapbooking.

NCSL Staff Chair
Patsy Spaw, Secretary of the Senate
Texas

Capitol Office
Texas State Capitol, Room 2E.22,
1200 Congress Avenue
Austin, Texas 78701
(512) 463-0100

Patsy Spaw is the Secretary of the Senate in the Texas Legislature. As Secretary of the Senate, she is the chief executive administrator of the Senate and is responsible for the operational functions of the Senate. She supervises the elected officers and department directors of the Senate, and controls and coordinates the operation of the central Senate staff. She was elected secretary in 2001 following more than 30 years of Senate employment, which included more than 20 years as an elected Senate officer.

Spaw was elected to be the staff vice chair at the 37th annual NCSL Legislative Summit in San Antonio. She has been a member of the American Society of Legislative Clerks and Secretaries since 1977, and served as its president in 2007-2008. She served on NCSL’s Executive Committee from 2008-2011, and was staff vice chair of the Budget, Finance and Rules Subcommittee. An active member of NCSL’s Legislative Staff Coordinating Committee, Patsy chaired the Professional Development Work Group in 2010-2011.

Spaw received her bachelor of liberal arts from Saint Edward's University in Austin, Texas, and her juris doctor from The University of Texas School of Law in Austin. She is a native of Texas.

NCSL Staff Vice Chair
Thomas W. Wright, Chief of Staff
Office of the Speaker of the House
Alaska

Capitol Office
716 W. 4th Avenue, Suite 600
Anchorage, Alaska  99501
(907) 269-2030

Tom Wright’s career spans 25 years with the Alaska State House.  He served as chief of staff to three different speakers, currently to Speaker Mike Chenault. Wright’s responsibilities include working with all House and Senate members and the administration on legislation and strategy;  briefing staff on caucus matters; establishing legislative session priorities and committee management; coordinating end-of-session strategy between the House, Senate and administration; coaching other legislative staff in leadership and legislative management skills; and handling the Speaker’s personal legislation and other district and state matters.

NCSL Immediate Past Staff Chair
Michael P. Adams, Director, Strategic Planning
Virginia Senate

Capitol Office
Senate of Virginia
P. O. Box 396
Richmond, Virginia  23218
(804) 698-7405

Michael Adams began his legislative service with the Colorado General Assembly in 1990 and was named the director of Legislative Information Services for the Colorado General Assembly in 2001. In 2011, Michael seized an opportunity to advance his own professional growth by becoming the director of strategic planning with the Virginia Senate.

Adams attended his first NCSL Legislative Summit in 1995. He was elected as an officer in the National Association of Legislative Information Technology (NALIT) in 2001 and served as chair of the organization in 2003-04. He also spent three years as a member of NCSL’s Executive Committee and held a number of responsibilities in NCSL’s standing committees.

Adams received his B.A. in International Political Studies-International Relations from the American College of Switzerland. He is a native of Colorado.