Kathryn Rees

Public Policy Advocates has announced longtime lobbyist Kathryn Rees is retiring at the end of session. Rees began her lobbying career for the California Optometric Assn. in 1976 and later joined the California Hospital Assn. to represent “county and teaching hospitals, along with Medi-Cal and budget issues.” Rees founded her own firm, Rees & Associates, in 1983. “And the rest, they say, is history,” said her colleague Russ Noack. “She was at the vanguard of some of the legislature’s most controversial issues, ranging from health insurance reform, to protecting the wine industry from taxation, to airline issues on behalf of Southwest.” Rees was also the first woman president of the Institute of Governmental Advocates. In 2008, she merged her firm with Public Policy Advocates. “What a ride,” said Rees. “A career that was so professionally rewarding and one in which a person can really make a difference.” Being an avid sailor, Rees expects to spend more time on the 44-foot sloop that she and her husband, Lee, keep on San Francisco Bay. Contact: Noack 916 441 0702.