David Riemer's career defies stereotypes. A progressive Democrat, he has worked closely with both Democrats and Republicans to create path-breaking public policy at the state level and influence national policy.
Employment and Income Helping American adults to achieve full-time employment and adequate incomes through work-based policy reform has been an enduring focus. Since 1989, Riemer has played a lead role in Wisconsin in drafting and enacting state legislation—adopted with both Democratic and Republican support to create Transitional Jobs programs, launch the nation's first refundable Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) that adjusted for family size, and replace the state's welfare program with a work-focused substitute.
As the founding Director and now Senior Fellow at the Community Advocates Public Policy Institute in Milwaukee, much of Riemer's anti-poverty activity has involved designing a comprehensive work-based policy package to cut the poverty rate in half. According to an independent analysis by the Urban Institute, the policy package would reduce poverty in the U.S. by 50% or more. Based on this work, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin, with co-sponsor Senator Cory Booker, introduced in 2016 the Stronger Way Act. This federal legislation, reintroduced in 2017, would create a national Transitional Jobs Program and substantially increase the federal EITC.
Health Care Much of Riemer's work has involved health care. At the federal level, Riemer served as staff to Senator Edward Kennedy, where he helped draft bipartisan legislation to improve the nation's mental health policy.In Wisconsin in the late 1990s, he worked closely with Democratic and Republican legislators, former Wisconsin Republican Governor Tommy Thompson, and the Clinton administration to expand insurance coverage for working families via the BadgerCare program.From 2004 to 2007, as Director of the Wisconsin Health Project, he helped fashion two pieces of legislation that, if enacted, would have insured all Wisconsinites and controlled costs by creating an incentive-driven statewide health insurance exchange. Following the enactment of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, he co-authored three amicus briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the law's constitutionality.
Education Riemer has also played important roles at the state level in K12 education policy, both in promoting school integration and in defending school choice. His work included submission of amicus briefs to the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of a variety of liberal and conservative policy-makers in support of properly constructed school choice program.
Local and State Budgets Formulating sound governmental budgets has been a central theme in Riemer's work. From 1988 to 2001, he helped prepare over a dozen City of Milwaukee budgets that improved municipal services and kept property taxes under control. He subsequently helped to craft the 2003-3005 State of Wisconsin budget that closed a $3.2 billion deficit without raising taxes.
Additional Background Since 2008, Riemer has worked at the Community Advocates Public Policy Institute in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he is currently a Senior Fellow. In 2003-2004, Riemer campaigned for Milwaukee County Executive. He received 101,000 votes, or 43% of the votes cast, in a race against County Executive Scott Walker (later Governor of Wisconsin, candidate for President, and recently defeated candidate for governor). In 2003, Riemer served as Budget Director for Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle. From 1988 to 2001, he worked in several positions in the administration of Milwaukee Mayor John Norquist, including Budget Director, Administration Director, and Chief of Staff.
