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Bill Samuels
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| Bill Samuels | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Organization: | EffectiveNY |
| Role: | Founder |
| Location: | New York, N.Y. |
| Education: | Massachusetts Institute of Technology Harvard Law School |
As of 2017, Bill Samuels was a Democratic fundraiser and activist working in the state of New York. He founded EffectiveNY, a nonprofit organization that aimed to promote progressive policies in the New York Legislature.[1]
Career
After graduating from MIT and Harvard Law School, Samuels joined APC Skills, an education company that focused on teaching basic reading and math skills to adults. He became the company's president and then sold his stake in 1988 for $200 million. After selling the company, he began ACTV, an interactive television company. In 1996, he explained his interest in developing interactive television to The New York Times, saying, "When I looked around I became fascinated with the concept of individual television programming. I saw its promise as a business and its promise as an educational tool."[2]
Political activity
Council on Economic Priorities
In 1969, Samuels founded and directed the Council on Economic Priorities, an organization that published the political stances of many corporations in the United States. According to Samuels' official bio, the group "made public companies’ policies on the environment, women & minority achievement, South African and tobacco concerns, labor safety and all corporate disclosure of outside financial donations and investments."[3]
EffectiveNY
In 1981, Samuels founded the EffectiveNY Howard Samuels Policy Center, a 501(c)(3) think tank that focuses on progressive policy research. The organization has a related 501(c)(4) advocacy group, EffectiveNY, that advocates progressive policy changes in New York's state government.[4]
New Roosevelt Institute
In 2009, Samuels founded the New Roosevelt Institute, an independent expenditure committee that aimed to keep New York State Senator Pedro Espada from being re-elected. That year, Espada and another Democrat had voted for Republican Dean Skelos as the senate majority leader despite Democrats holding a majority in the chamber. After recommitting to the Democratic Party, Espada was voted in as the majority leader.[5] Samuels founded the New Roosevelt Institute and supported Gustavo Rivera (D) as a primary challenger to Espada. Samuels pledged $250,000 of his own money to support Rivera, who won the election.[6]
Ballot measure activity
New York Constitutional Convention Question, 2017
Samuels supported the New York Constitutional Convention Question, a 2017 automatic ballot referral concerning whether New York should hold a constitutional convention to develop and propose changes to the state constitution that voters would vote on at the election on November 5, 2019. As part of his support for the measure, Samuels hosted a monthly two-hour radio show, Effective Radio, which detailed potential policy changes in 12 episodes leading to the vote. In June 2016, he explained the show's purpose, saying, "Whether you are for or against a People’s Convention, the November 2017 vote is a remarkable opportunity to inspire a robust and innovative dialogue about what rights we believe we should have as New Yorkers and what policies we want to be part of the bedrock of our state."[7]
Overview of ballot measure support and opposition
The following table details Samuels' ballot measure stances available on Ballotpedia:
| Ballot measure support and opposition for Bill Samuels | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ballot measure | Year | Position | Status |
| New York Proposal 1, Constitutional Convention Question (2017) | 2017 | Supported |  Defeated
|
| New York Redistricting Commission Amendment, Proposal 1 (2014) | 2014 | Opposed | Approved 
|
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Bill Samuels'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ EffectiveNY, "About," accessed July 18, 2017
- ↑ The New York Times, "Long Island Q&A: William Samuels; A Pioneer in Introducing Interactive Television Programming," January 7, 1996
- ↑ NYConstitution.org, "Bill Samuels," accessed July 18, 2017
- ↑ EffectiveNY, "Our History," accessed July 18, 2017
- ↑ The New York Times, "Republicans Seize Control of State Senate," June 8, 2009
- ↑ Albany Times Union, "Samuels goes all in for Rivera," July 8, 2010
- ↑ EffectiveNY, "Bill Samuels Launches Campaign to Innovate and Reform Albany with Radio Series on 2017 Constitution Vote," June 11, 2016
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