Chair, Task Force to Study Public School Facilities, 2002-04. Chair, Capital Debt Affordability Committee, 2002-; Commission on State Debt, 2002-. Member, Board of Public Works, 2002-; Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation, 2002-; Board of State Canvassers, 2002-; Governor's Salary Commission, 2002-; Hall of Records Commission, 2002-; Maryland Health and Higher Educational Facilities Authority, 2002-; Maryland Higher Education Investment Program Board, 2002-03; Procurement Advisory Council, 2002-; Board of Revenue Estimates, 2002-; Maryland State Employees Surety Bond Committee, 2002-; Board of Trustees, Maryland Teachers and State Employees Supplemental Retirement Plans, 2002-. Vice-Chair, Board of Trustees, State Retirement and Pension System, 2002- (member, investment committee, 2002-). Member, Task Force to Study Efficiency in Procurement, 2003. Chair, College Savings Plans of Maryland Board, 2003-. Chair, University System of Maryland Financial Aid Task Force, 2004. Member, State Planning Committee for Higher Education, 2004; Task Force on the Exemption of Law Enforcement Officers' Pensions from Taxation, 2004-05; Task Force on Lending Equity within Financial Institutions Providing State Depository Services, 2004-05; Task Force to Study Retiree Health Care Funding Options, 2005; Advisory Committee on the Naming of State Facilities, Roads, and Bridges, 2005-; Blue Ribbon Commission to Study Retiree Health Care Funding Options, 2006-. Board of Advisors, Institute of Human Virology, University of Maryland School of Medicine.
Member, House of Delegates, January 8, 1975 to February 5, 2002, representing District 16, Montgomery County. Member, Appropriations Committee, 1975-2002 (education & human resources subcommittee, 1991; education & transportation subcommittee, 1992-94; capital budget subcommittee, 1992-2002; oversight committee on pensions, 1993-2002; chair, education & economic development subcommittee, 1995-2002). Assistant Majority Leader, 1987-90. Speaker Pro Tem, 1991-92. Member, Joint Legislative Work Group on Community College Financing, 1994-95; Joint Committee on State Economic Development Initiatives, 1995-96; Rules and Executive Nominations Committee, 1995-2002. House Chair, Spending Affordability Committee, 1995-2002. Member, Joint Committee on the Selection of the State Treasurer, 1996; Special Joint Committee on Competitive Taxation and Economic Development, 1996-97; Special Committee on School Enrollment Management, 1996-97. Treasurer, Maryland Order of Women Legislators, 1975-79. President, Women Legislators of Maryland, 1996-97. Chair, Legislative Study Group, 1977-78. Member, Southern Regional Education Board, 1987-2002 (treasurer; executive committee; legislative advisory council; chair, commission on education goals). Member, Bi-County Committee, Montgomery County Delegation. Executive Committee, National Conference of State Legislatures, 1991-94 (chair, task force on the legislative institution, 1991-95). Co-Chair, National Commission on State and Local Public Budgeting, 1996-98. Presidential appointee, National Assessment Governing Board, 1998-.
Member, Commission on Compensation and Personnel Policies, 1979-86; Task Force on Student Financial Aid; Information Practices Commission, 1980-81; Joint Legislative and Executive Committee on Pensions, 1983; Task Force to Study Flexibility for Higher Education, 1983-85; Commission on Excellence in Higher Education, 1985-87; Community Services Advisory Commission, 1986-2002; Project Advisory Council, Children and Family Services Reform Initiative, 1988-96; Advisory Committee for Educational Block Grants, 1992-94; Governor's Work Force Investment Board, 1995-2002; Governor's Task Force on Children, Youth, and Families Systems Reform, 1996; Task Force on Education Funding Equity, Accountability, and Partnerships, 1997-98; Maryland School Performance Assessment Program Review Panel, 1997-2002. Vice-Chair, Task Force to Study the Governance, Coordination, and Funding of the University System of Maryland, 1998-99. Member, Juvenile Offender Aftercare Assessment Team, 1999-2000; Strategic Committee on the State Plan for Higher Education, 1999-2000; Task Force to Study College Readiness for Disadvantaged and Capable Students, 2000-01; Task Force to Study Lighting Efficiency and Light Pollution in Maryland, 2001-02.
Born in Coral Gables, Florida, December 7, 1943. Wellesley College, B.A., 1965; University of Chicago, M.A. (government & public administration), 1967, Ph.D. studies as National Defense Education Fellow. Political scientist. Staff to U.S. Representative Edith Green (Oregon) and House Committee on Education and Labor, 1966-71. Secretary, Democratic State Central Committee of Maryland. Member, Women's Suburban Democratic Club; League of Women Voters; American Association of University Women (AAUW). Executive Board, Jewish Social Services Agency of Greater Washington, 1991-96. Board of Directors, Leadership Maryland, Inc. Member, National Association of State Treasurers, 2002-. Chair, Northeast State Treasurers, 2004-. Executive Committee, National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers, and Treasurers, 2004-. Board of Advisors, College of Computer, Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park. Board of Advisors, Universities at Shady Grove. Outstanding Young Woman of Maryland, 1978. Awards from AAUW; Maryland Victim Advocacy Network; Maryland Independent Colleges and Universities; Maryland Classified Employees Association. Outstanding Legislator, Microenterprise Council of Maryland, 2000. Friend of Maryland Education, Citigroup and State Department of Education, 2002. Maryland's Top 100 Women, Daily Record, 2005. Honorary degrees from University of Maryland, Baltimore; University of Maryland University College; Towson University; Hood College. Sarah T. Hughes Fellow, Goucher College. Yale Gordon Public Affairs Fellow, University of Baltimore. Married; two children.
Treasurer Kopp chairs both the Capital Debt Affordability Committee and the Commission on State Debt, and is the chief representative of the State in dealing with financial rating agencies and investment banking firms. She also serves as Vice-Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Maryland State Retirement and Pension Systems, as Chair of the College Savings Plans of Maryland Board, and as a member of the Maryland Supplemental Retirement Board, the Maryland Health and Higher Education Financing Authority, and the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation Board. Chief among the Treasurer's responsibilities is her position on the Board of Public Works with the Governor and the Comptroller of Maryland. The Board supervises a substantial portion of the fiscal affairs of the State - everything from wetlands licenses to construction projects and other State procurements and contracts.
For twenty-seven years prior to her election as Treasurer, Ms. Kopp represented the Bethesda, Maryland area in the Maryland House of Delegates. As a member of the House of Delegates, Treasurer Kopp chaired the Joint Committee on Spending Affordability, as well as the Appropriations Subcommittee on Education and Economic Development. She also served on the Capital Budget Subcommittee, Subcommittee on Pensions, and Joint Committee on Budget and Audits, and, at various times, as Deputy Majority Leader and Speaker Pro Tem. During her legislative career, Treasurer Kopp was named by her colleagues as the most effective woman legislator and one of the ten most effective members of the House.
Treasurer Kopp has been active in a variety of national, regional and state organizations and boards over the years, primarily focused on education, and on budgeting and finance issues. Appointed by President Clinton to the National Assessment Governing Board, which oversees the National Assessment of Educational Progress (the "Nation's Report Card"), she was also the Treasurer of the Southern Regional Education Board, and chaired its Commission on Educational Quality. In addition, she served on the Executive Committee of the National Conference of State Legislatures, and chaired its Assembly on Legislative Issues, and Committees on Federal Budget Issues, State Fiscal Issues, and Capital Budgeting Procedures. Moreover, Treasurer Kopp served as Vice-Chair of the National Commission on State and Local Budget and Finance Procedures.
A graduate of Wellesley College, Treasurer Kopp holds an M.A. in Government from the University of Chicago. She also has received Honorary Doctorate degrees from Hood College, the University of Maryland at Baltimore, the University of Maryland University College, and Towson University. She and her husband, Robert Kopp, live in Bethesda, Maryland and have two adult children.
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