TECNA

Maxine Ballen, President and CEO of the New Jersey Technology council is the Chair  of TECNA’s Public Policy Committee and actively continues to develop and focus TECNA’s legislative agenda.

Process for Developing National Policy Positions 

Issue Identification

• TECNA Public Policy Committee will hold a conference call every other month (or as needed) to discuss policy issues.
• Survey TECNA  members once a year to identify appropriate public policy issues. This formal survey will augment the “informal” capture of ideas and issues from members.
• Monitor state, national and international public policy issues through the TECNA network.
• Public policy issues will be weighed based on importance, ability of TECNA to affect, timeliness, and other factors to determine relevance. The Public Policy Committee reserves the right to declare “no action” on an issue.
• Once an issue is identified and it is agreed that it should be brought before the Executive Committee, a one-page draft White Paper will be developed outlining the position and its merits. The White Paper will be presented to the Executive Committee by the Public Policy Committee co-chairs.

• The Executive Committee will discuss the policy position and refine the position as appropriate. It will then determine if the position should be presented to the Board of Directors for adoption.
• Upon the recommendation of the Executive Committee, a memorandum and White Paper will be circulated to the membership prior to the Board Meeting.
• The recommended position will be presented by the Public Policy chairpersons to the Board for approval.
• The Board will approve or reject the position.
• Upon approval, the position then becomes part of the TECNA national policy position statements and archives.

Upon approval, the Public Policy committee will produce as relevant: a TECNA letter of support for an issue, an alert/call to action of member Tech Councils, a plan for ongoing program activity on the issue, and/or any other necessary information.