Michael Genest opened Genest Consulting in January of 2010 to provide advice, analysis and advocacy on fiscal and policy issues affecting state and local government. In January 2011,
Genest added two partners, Brad Williams and Peter Schaafsma, and founded Capitol Matrix
Consulting.
Prior to going into private practice, Mr. Genest served for four years as Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger's chief financial policy advisor in his role as Director of the California
Department of Finance. Since Governor Reagan's administration, only one person has served longer in that position.
Mr. Genest served on Governor Schwarzenegger's transition team and was sworn in as Chief
Deputy Director for Budget in the Department of Finance on the first day of the Administration, in November 2003. He also served for six months as Undersecretary of the Health and Human
Services Agency and as chief of administration at the inception of California's Corrections and
Rehabilitation Agency.
Before joining Governor Schwarzenegger's Administration, Mr. Genest was the Director of the
California Senate Republican Fiscal Office, reporting directly to Senator James L Brulte.
Previously, he was the administrator of the state's public health programs, within the
Department of Health Services and the Deputy Director for Welfare Programs in the Department of Social Services. Mr. Genest began his career in California state government with a ten-year stint in the non-partisan and highly regarded Legislative Analyst's Office, where he quickly rose to a management role. Before the Legislative Analyst's Office, Mr. Genest worked on transportation finance issues within Governor "Big Jim" Thompson's Bureau of the Budget in
Illinois.
Mr. Genest received his master's degree from the University of California at Berkeley, Graduate
School of Public Policy in 1980 and his Baccalaureate in Political Science from San Jose State
University in 1978. Before that Mr. Genest was a journeyman carpenter in the Napa chapter of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners.
He is married to Katherine Stafford Genest and has two sons, Lieutenant Thomas Genest, USN and Captain Dennis Genest, United States Army.
CALIFORNIA FOUNDATION FOR FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY
5530 Birdcage Street, Suite 105, Citrus Heights, CA 95610
916-966-9366 www.californiapensionreform.com

Brad Williams has been involved in economic forecasting, state budgeting and finances in
Sacramento for over 32 years, serving in both the executive and legislative branches of state government.
From 2007 to 2010, Mr. Williams served as a consultant to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, where he was responsible for advising the committee on fiscal measures in the areas of taxation, local government, pensions, and labor. He was also involved in the development of the state budgets during this period, particularly in areas of taxation and local government financing.
From 1995 to 2007, Mr. Williams served in the non-partisan California Legislative Analyst's
Office as its Chief Economist and Director of Economic and Fiscal Forecasting. In that capacity, he was responsible for: the office's economic and budget-related forecasts; financial modeling of budget scenarios; ballot analyses and budget analyses in the areas of revenues, taxation, local governments; and studies related to a wide range of topics, including the energy crisis, revenue volatility, local government financial crises, the impacts of potential changes to the budget process. He was also a key spokesman for the office, frequently providing testimony, presenting to state and national conferences, and appearing on CNBC and other television and radio programs.
Prior to his service with the LAO, Mr. Williams served in numerous capacities, including as an advisor to State Treasurer Kathleen Brown and State Controller Kathleen Connell. He was also executive director the California Industrial Development Authority and the Commission on State
Finance - an agency responsible for preparing short- and long- term forecasts of the state's economy and financial situation.
Based on a detailed Wall Street Journal comparison of economic projections made by banks, universities, and other forecasters over the full decade of the 1990s, Mr. Williams was recognized by the Journal as the most accurate forecaster of California's economy for that period. He has authored numerous journal articles on taxation, revenue volatility, and changes in California's income distribution.
Mr. Williams received his BA and MA in economics from the University of California, Davis. He is married to Nancy Williams, and has two daughters, Marissa Gottlieb, and Katherine Williams.
CALIFORNIA FOUNDATION FOR FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY
5530 Birdcage Street, Suite 105, Citrus Heights, CA 95610
916-966-9366 www.californiapensionreform.com

Jay Peters has more than 30 years of experience with all aspects of employee retirement benefits, including pension and nontraditional defined benefit plans, a wide variety of defined contribution designs and retiree healthcare plans.
He has overseen all aspects of program operation for employers that sponsor large and complex plans. In this capacity he managed extensive redesign efforts with responsibility for analysis of the financial impact, the effect on employees and on comparability with peer employers, communication with participants and regulatory compliance. He has extensive experience with collective bargaining (including multiemployer plan) issues, benefits for overseas and for internationally mobile employees, and special issues for highly paid employees.
As a consultant with the Wyatt Company (now Towers Watson), he advised clients on all aspects of their retirement benefit programs:


Funding and cost recognition
Meeting financial and human resource objectives via innovative plan design changes
 Compliance with evolving legislation and regulation
 Administrative infrastructure necessary to support plan operation.
Prior to that he assisted in providing similar services to large clients of Buck Consultants.
He received his BA in philosophy and mathematics from the University of Pittsburgh. He became an enrolled actuary in 1985 (currently in retired status).
CALIFORNIA FOUNDATION FOR FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY
5530 Birdcage Street, Suite 105, Citrus Heights, CA 95610
916-966-9366 www.californiapensionreform.com