Cristy Gallagher, State Policy Consultant
AT POTOMAC CURRENTS
Cristy is a State Policy Consultant for Potomac Currents and a tremendous resource on federal-state relations -- having served as the Washington Representative for two Governors. In this capacity, she helped to navigate the committee and policy processes of the National Governors Association (NGA) and stay in close contact with members of the state’s Congressional delegation. She also comes with close relationships to many of her former colleagues in the Hall of States as well as representatives from the regional state associations and the Democratic Governors Association (DGA). Her background and knowledge of state government and policy, combined with her skill at lobbying Congress and the federal government, are invaluable to her clients and their abilities to propose and impact state and federal public policy.

BEFORE POTOMAC CURRENTS
Cristy has spent over a decade working in Washington DC on health, human services, and education policy. After receiving her Masters in Public Affairs from the University of Texas’ LBJ School of Public Affairs, Cristy moved to DC to work at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). During her combined three years at HHS, she worked in Secretary Donna Shalala’s office and the Office of Legislation on issues ranging from welfare reform to Medicaid. Her greatest accomplishments were helping shepherd the reauthorization of Head Start and the Violence Against Women Act.

Cristy left the federal government in 2001 to become the Director of the State of Missouri’s Washington Office, where she: coordinated all federal issues, including health care, education, homeland security and tax issues; communicated the state’s federal policy and funding priorities to the state’s Congressional delegation and the federal departments; and served as the lead staff liaison to the NGA, Southern Governors Association, Midwestern Governors Association and DGA. After four years serving the State of Missouri, Cristy fulfilled a similar role for the State of New Jersey. During her time in the Hall of States, Cristy also held several leadership positions on several key NGA panels such as the 2003 Medicaid Task Force, the 2005 Governors Medicaid Working Group and the NGA’s Health and Human Services Committee.

Both prior to and after the birth of her second child, Cristy worked in the Health Policy Program of the New America Foundation – serving as a Congressional Liaison and authoring the paper, “From New England to the Golden Gate Bridge: A Look at the Creative Coverage Expansions at the State and Local Levels.”