Public Policy Forum 2026

Michele N. Siekerka, Esq., President and CEO of the New Jersey Business & Industry Association, leads the nation’s largest, most influential employers’ organization, advocating on behalf of New Jersey’s large and small businesses for policies that will make New Jersey more affordable and regionally competitive.

Being known as a collaborative leader, Siekerka is leading an NJBIA established coalition (New Jersey Business Coalition) comprised of more than 100 business and nonprofit associations across the state to tackle the tough economic and business challenges our state is facing during COVID 19.

Well versed on the ‘boots on the ground” issues affecting our state’s business community, Michele is often the “go to” resource for media and is sought after to share her expertise in public forums across the state.

For more than twenty-five years, Tony Bawidamann has led legislative and public affairs campaigns across the country. He has directed, managed, and executed comprehensive government and regulatory affairs strategies for some of the nation’s most recognized companies, including Comcast, Bristol Myers Squibb, McDonald’s, Verizon, LS Power, Lennar Homes, and Hudson News.

Tony brings extensive experience in navigating complex organizational landscapes, managing diverse stakeholders ranging from NGOs, trade associations, and advocacy groups to CEOs, board members, business unit leaders, and corporate leadership teams.

In New Jersey, Tony has spearheaded efforts for Comcast and the New Jersey Business & Industry Association. At Bristol Myers Squibb, he led the national State Government Affairs and Alliance Development teams. Prior to that, he managed the public affairs practice at Florio, Perrucci, Steinhardt & Fader, where he directed legislative initiatives, and as Vice President of Public Affairs at MWW, he guided some of the nation’s highest-profile campaigns for both national and New Jersey-based clients.

Tony currently serves as Chairman of the New Jobs PAC, New Jersey’s oldest and largest business PAC, which supports pro-business elected officials.

Earlier in his career, Tony served three Members of Congress—Charles Bennett, Earl Hutto, and Robert Wexler. At the state level, he was Chief of Staff to Florida Representative Ben Graber and later Executive Director of the South Carolina House Caucus. In New Jersey, he has played a pivotal role in some of the state’s most competitive campaigns, including those for Senate President Steve Sweeney (2001), Assemblyman John Burzichelli (2001), Senator Paul Sarlo (2003), and Assemblyman Gary Schaer (2005).

Tony earned his Bachelor’s degree from Florida State University and a Master’s degree from The George Washington University. He lives in Haddonfield with his wife, Deb, and their sixteen-year-old son, Parker. Outside of work, he enjoys coaching youth football and cheering on Parker from the sidelines.

A lifelong resident of Morris County, Anthony M. Bucco has served in the New Jersey Senate since 2019. He currently serves as the Senate Republican Leader. He previously served in the General Assembly from 2010 to 2019, including as the Republican conference leader for his final two years. 

Bucco earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and managerial economics in 1984 from Lycoming College in Williamsport, PA. He went on to get his law degree from Seton Hall Law School in 1987, and was admitted to the New Jersey Bar that same year. He is a partner at the law firm of Murphy McKeon, P.C. specializing in local government law. 

He is a founding member of Daytop drug and alcohol center and served on the Governor’s Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse from 1998 to 2009. Bucco has been a commissioner of the Morris County Sheriff’s Crime Stoppers program since 1998 and served with the Boonton Volunteer Fire Department since 1980 where he attained the rank of captain. 

With six grown children and six grandchildren, Bucco and his wife reside in Boonton. 

The Honorable Assembly Speaker Craig J. Coughlin has served in the General Assembly since 2010, representing the 19^th Legislative District. He is the longest serving Speaker in New Jersey history, now in his fourth term.

Highlights of the Speaker’s legislative tenure include raising the state’s minimum wage, delivering property tax relief, investing in childcare and mental health programs, increasing public school funding, ending surprise medical bills, and improving the state’s environmental remediation programs to provide a cleaner, safer future. These initiatives were made possible by the responsible state budgeting and fiscal stewardship during his time as Speaker.

Speaker Coughlin has spent his legislative career fighting for the working people of New Jersey. The first bill passed in his tenure as Speaker was the Equal Pay for Women Act. Under his leadership, the Democratic caucus has spearheaded numerous bills to provide tax relief for the people who need it most— middle-class families and seniors.

After securing passage of the ANCHOR program, the largest property tax relief program in state history at the time, Speaker Coughlin authored the StayNJ program, which will cut seniors’ property taxes in half. Coupled with expansions in prescription drug assistance programs of PAAD and Senior Gold, New Jersey seniors will see real savings and improved affordability.

The issue closest to Speaker Coughlin’s heart is the fight against hunger. His policy agenda has prioritized food security for New Jersey families and ending childhood hunger. He has worked to expand free school lunches and sponsored four expansive anti-hunger bill packages, including increasing aid to food banks by 500%, and creating a first-in-the-nation Office of Food Security Advocate. His ultimate goal, in concert with a coalition of community leaders on this issue, is the elimination of hunger in New Jersey by 2030. Speaker Coughlin stresses the importance of local engagement on food security to highlight the needs in every community—including his annual bowling fundraiser to benefit local food pantries in his district, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars and recruiting volunteers.

Speaker Coughlin is a lifelong resident of Middlesex County.  He was born in Perth Amboy on January 31, 1958 and attended public schools in South Amboy. He attended St. John’s University for his B.A. (summa cum laude ’80) and J.D. (’83).  Before running for the Assembly in 2009, Coughlin was a member of the South Amboy Board of Education and served as a South Amboy City Councilman for six years. Speaker Coughlin has also served in various legal capacities including as a municipal court judge, prosecutor and public defender.

Coughlin is a partner in Woodbridge-based law firm, Rainone, Coughlin, Minchello LLC. He and his wife, Letitia, live in Woodbridge and have three sons—Craig Jr., Vincent and Nicholas.  He is also the proud grandfather of Claire and Jameson.

Robert C. Garrett launched his career at Hackensack University Medical Center in 1981 and served as president and CEO of the Hackensack University Health Network from November 2009 through July 2016. Mr. Garrett dramatically expanded the network through a series of acquisitions, partnerships and affiliations. In July 2016, the network merged with Meridian Health creating Hackensack Meridian Health.

Under Bob’s visionary leadership, the network has advanced treatment, innovation, research and medical education through bold strategies and strategic partnerships that are transforming care delivery in New Jersey and beyond. The network continues to expand access to care and revolutionize behavioral healthcare. Bob’s vision led to the establishment of the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, the first new medical school in New Jersey in 60 years.

In January, 2025 the network announced a strategic affiliation agreement with Apollo Hospitals, India’s largest private healthcare system, to leverage the strengths of both organizations to enhance patient care, improve affordability and promote community health.

U.S. News & World Report ranks Hackensack University Medical Center the No. 1 hospital in New Jersey and the New York Metro area and a top 20 hospital nationally.

Bob has served as Chair of the World Economic Forum’s Health and Healthcare Governor’s Community. He is also a national thought leader and has received numerous recognitions including being ranked among Modern Healthcare’s 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare in the U.S. He received the 2025 Ellis Island Medal of Honor, one of our nation’s most prestigious awards that is recognized by both Houses of Congress.

Bob is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and received his Master of Health Administration from Washington University in Saint Louis, MO, and his bachelor’s degree from Binghamton University in New York.

Stephen Sweeney began his career with Local 399 in Camden, NJ, joining in 1977 and becoming a journeyman in 1980. He rose through the ranks as Financial Secretary-Treasurer and Business Agent, later serving as a general organizer for both the Philadelphia and Northern New Jersey District Councils. In 2015 he became General Vice President, and served as First General Vice President until December 2025, consistently demonstrating deep commitment to workers and the labor movement.

A longtime public servant, Sweeney represented South Jersey in the State Senate from 2002 to 2022, including 12 years as Senate President. He previously served as a Gloucester County Commissioner and Director, where he built a reputation as a consensus-builder focused on practical solutions for New Jersey families.

Sweeney is also recognized as a leader in statewide energy policy. He drove major expansions in solar development—growing New Jersey’s capacity from 250 MWp to nearly 4,500 MWp—by stabilizing the SREC program and encouraging redevelopment of landfills and brownfields. He authored the Offshore Wind Renewable Energy Credit program, enabling more than 5,000 MW of planned offshore wind, and championed New Jersey’s involvement in RGGI to support efficiency and emissions reductions.

Guided by an “all-of-the-above” energy philosophy, Sweeney promoted a balanced strategy that includes natural gas, nuclear, and renewables. He advanced legislation that preserved the state’s three nuclear reactors—powering over 3.8 million homes—and supported natural gas infrastructure, including the pipeline to the BL England plant. As Gloucester County Freeholder Director, he also oversaw development of the 738-MW LS Power Plant in West Deptford. Throughout his career, Sweeney has prioritized reliability, affordability, and sustainability in meeting New Jersey’s energy needs.

In the Senate, Sweeney passed a series of reforms designed to save New Jersey’s severely underfunded pension system. He also authored the 2% cap on local government spending that helped cut projected property tax increases in half, and sponsored legislation increasing the minimum wage, requiring earned sick leave and creating New Jersey’s Paid Family Leave program for all New Jersey residents.

Sweeney sponsored S2, “The School Funding Reform Act,” that eliminated longstanding inequities in the school funding formula and the Vocational Education Bond Act to expand workforce training. He pushed through legislation to encourage K-12 and countywide school regionalization, which was a major recommendation in the “Path to Progress” report issued by the 2018 Economic and Fiscal Policy Workgroup he created.

He sponsored the nation’s first Offshore Wind Act in 2010, led negotiations to bring a manufacturing facility for turbine platforms at Paulsboro and the New Jersey Windport to Lower Alloways Creek, and sponsored legislation to protect New Jersey’s three nuclear power plants in Salem County from closing

Sweeney fought for the successful merger of the state’s medical schools with their research universities to increase R&D funding. He was a staunch proponent of Rowan University’s unique affiliation with county colleges in Gloucester, Burlington and Cumberland counties, and helped Rowan obtain the state funding needed to become just the second university in the nation with two medical schools and a veterinary school.

An Emmy award-winning journalist, Briana Vannozzi serves as the anchor for NJ Spotlight News, the newsroom of NJ PBS. She’s worked in several capacities since joining the news division in 2012, as interim anchor and senior correspondent after years of general assignment reporting as a multimedia journalist. Vannozzi began her television journalism career by cutting her teeth on New Jersey State House politics for New Jersey Network News, and later as a news radio correspondent at FM News 101.9 covering crime and politics in New York City. Her work has taken her to national presidential nominating conventions, Capitol Hill, up and down the East Coast and every corner of the Garden State. She’s interviewed every New Jersey governor dating back to Jon Corzine and moderated numerous political debates and forums. Her work has also earned awards from the New Jersey Society of Professional Journalists and the Philadelphia Press Association. A Burlington County native, she’s honored to be serving and covering her home state and raising her family there.

Bruce Van Saun is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Citizens Financial Group, Inc, a super-regional bank with a significant presence in New England, the Mid-Atlantic and the Midwest that serves approximately six million consumer and business customers.
Van Saun joined Citizens in October 2013 from the Royal Bank of Scotland. He led a successful initial public offering of Citizens in September 2014, followed by a dramatic transformation journey over recent years, including the build out of the Commercial Bank, the launch of Citizens Private Bank, and the expansion into New York Metro through the strategic acquisition of HSBC’s east coast branches and Investors Bancorp. Citizens continues to focus on delivering well for its stakeholders, including customers, colleagues, communities and shareowners.

At RBS, Van Saun served as Group Finance Director and as an executive director on the RBS Board from 2009 to 2013. He led efforts critical to re-establishing safety and soundness at RBS after the financial crisis, including improvements in the capital, liquidity and funding position, reduction in risk concentrations, and several significant divestitures such as Direct Line Group – the company’s insurance subsidiary – through an IPO and sell-down.

Prior to that, Van Saun held several senior positions with Bank of New York and later Bank of New York Mellon over an 11-year period. As Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer, he was actively involved in the strategic transformation of BNY from a diversified regional bank into a focused global securities servicer and asset manager. This included over 80 transactions, including notable ones such as the merger with Mellon, a swap of businesses with JP Morgan and the acquisition of Pershing. He had also served as head of Bank of New York’s asset management and market-related businesses.